Learning curve: The new players in Congress

Every two years, the period between the November election and when the new Congress begins is often the busiest period of time to cover Congress.

Journalists try to find out who won the election and who lost. The existing Congress is back, trying to avoid a government shutdown and often plowing through a landscape of other important legislation. There are often leadership elections. For example, Sen. John Thune, RS.D., defeated Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., to succeed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. , at most. Senate GOP leader. Thune starts as majority leader Friday afternoon. We don’t yet know how much House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is fighting to return to the Speaker’s Chamber. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., needed 15 rounds before claiming the gavel in 2023.

Time management is a problem for me with so much going on. The new Congress begins at noon on January 3. So I put in the time between elections and the start of the new Congress by learning, studying and memorizing the faces and biographies of as many incoming lawmakers as possible.

It takes a lot of time. It’s a challenge to tell some newbies apart from each other. Even getting the names and pronunciations right.

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It’s quite a learning curve.

This process is intensified during the holidays. It’s the latest acceleration of things launching on January 3rd.

Some people are easier to learn than others. Sens. Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., were household names in the House before joining the Senate. In fact, they have already become senators. Other new senators have a high profile because they ran in competitive races. Think Sens.-elect Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., and Dave McCormick, R-Penn. Sen.-elect Jim Justice, RW.V., did not face a tough race to join the Senate. But Justice cut a national profile before winning, as did his constant canine companion Babydog.

But the real adventure is learning all the new members of the Chamber.

The house is a huge place. 435 people. Some new faces stand out in the House. But many are obscure. And it is especially difficult to learn some of them if they did not encounter a competitive race or were relatively unknown.

The Chamber begins with 62 new deputies plus delegates without a vote on Friday. My mission is to learn them all.

My daily training routine is a good opportunity for this. After all, the pace of Congress is like a treadmill. But for my purposes, learning the freshman class is more like an elliptical. I go through the list of faces and names over and over, as my legs shake every morning. I rotate through the entire House list at least twice. Then I take the list to the stationary bike and study more.

Some names stand out more than others. For example, Rep.-elect Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, was known before the election. She defeated Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, in a close race this fall. In addition, his surname is steeped in American political history, but especially with the Democratic Party. His uncle is former Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska. His grandfather, the late Rep. Nick Begich, D-Alaska, was killed in a 1972 plane crash with the late House Majority Leader Hale Boggs, D-La. Boggs is the father of the late ABC and NPR reporter Cokie Roberts.

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I try to meet with as many members of the incoming freshman class as possible. But as I wrote before, bandwidth is limited. All freshmen descend on the Capitol complex during this strange period after orientation elections. There aren’t enough minutes in the day.

But a few weeks ago I was having drinks with a good friend at The Monocle, a legendary Capitol Hill watering hole. I saw former Senator Begich walk in, but I couldn’t get his attention to say hello. A few moments later, the elected deputy walked past. I took him by the arm, introduced myself and gave him a business card.

Trust me, it’s easier to memorize the freshman class if you know the members in person. And I was proud of myself for being able to pick out MP-elect Begich from a crowd, based on my studies.

I spent some time chatting with Reps.-elect Julie Fedorchak, RN.D., and Dave Taylor, R-Ohio. So I’m sure I know these members.

Then there are people who left Congress and have returned. That’s the case for former Reps. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., and Cleo Fields, D-La. Stutzman served in Congress just a few years ago and is back. Fields served in the House nearly three decades ago in the 1990s when he was in his thirties.

I mentioned delegates a bit earlier.

Del.-elect Kimberlyn King-Hinds, R-Northern Mariana Islands, arrives in Washington as a freshman in a few days. It happens when withdrawing Del. Kilili Sablan, D-Northern Mariana Islands. I have not yet met King-Hinds. But several photos that have been passed around show her wearing a tropical floral headdress. I don’t know if that’s what King-Hinds wears all the time. But these clothes would make it easier to recognize King-Hinds.

For example, the signature cowboy hat worn by Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., makes her stand out.

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Then there are the pronunciations. Not every name is as easy as Rep.-elect Tim Moore, RNC, or Rep.-elect Gabe Evans, R-Colo. Try Rep.-elect Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va. It’s pronounced soo-bruh-MAHN—yum. The last name of Rep.-elect Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., is pronounced HAMM-uh-day. And the aforementioned Julie Fedorchak says her last name is fedd-ORR-check.

I recruited Fox News Radio reporter Ryan Schmelz to ask me about the backgrounds of some of the freshmen, as well as match photos with names. I had no problem guessing correctly when Schmelz showed me the photo of Rep.-elect Sarah Elfreth, D-Md. He succeeds retiring Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md.

But I stumbled when Schmelz pointed to a photo of Rep.-elect Maxine Dexter, D-Ore. I immediately learned that the congresswoman-elect was named “Maxine.” I was sure he was a Democrat and comes from Oregon. He even knew who was successful: retiring Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. But I didn’t get the last name. I meant “Deeter”. But I knew it wasn’t right.

Then Schmelz disturbed me there.

But that’s the learning process. And even though I didn’t know Dexter back then, you can bet I won’t forget him now.

And we hope to meet her. I have known his predecessor for years.

But frankly, you don’t really learn membership by studying a book. You learn them by seeing them in the room. Chatting with them in the Speaker’s Lobby. Interact with them in interviews. Seeing how they do it in the hearings. See how they behave on the ground.

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And the best way to learn them?

Watching how they vote and act as a member of Congress.