WASHINGTON — Lawmakers of the 117th Congress will take the oath of office on Sunday, officially convening for the first time as the capital prepares for a new president, feuds over the mendacious claims of victory by the departing one and continues to battle a deadly pandemic.
In the House, Democrats are poised to re-elect Nancy Pelosi of California as speaker, handing her control of an exceedingly narrow majority for what may be her final term. After two years as President Trump’s most outspoken Democratic antagonist, she will soon be responsible for trying to shepherd through Congress as much of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s agenda as possible.
It is no easy task. With her party in control of just 222 of 435 seats, Ms. Pelosi can afford to lose only a handful of Democrats on any given vote. She will also have to contend with a health crisis that can sideline lawmakers at any moment, beginning with a few who were expected to miss Sunday’s session.
“I am confident that the Speaker’s election today will show a united Democratic Caucus ready to meet the challenges ahead, and that we are prepared to set our country on a new course,” Ms. Pelosi wrote Sunday morning in a letter to colleagues.
On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate is preparing for a more subdued opening day as both parties await a pair of runoff elections in Georgia on Tuesday that will determine which of them begins the year in control. The outcome could determine the fate of Mr. Biden’s legislative goals on climate change, taxes and health care; his response to the coronavirus pandemic; and his ability to fill his cabinet and influential federal judgeships.
Republicans currently have an edge, with 50 seats to Democrats’ 48. Democrats would have to sweep both races to draw the chamber to a tie and effectively take control when Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who would cast tiebreaking votes when needed, is sworn in with Mr. Biden on Jan. 20.
With the coronavirus circulating rampantly, members-elect expected little of the usual pomp that usually accompanies Congress’s initial convening. House leaders were preparing for a drawn-out, socially distant affair, with lawmakers taking the oath of office and voting for speaker in small groups, rather than all together in the normally boisterous hall of the House.
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Nor was there much promise that the partisan warfare that has seized the capital in recent years would soon subside with the new session. After they are sworn in, a growing cohort of Republican senators and House members plan to initiate a long-shot attempt on Wednesday to try to overturn Mr. Biden’s victory and deliver a second term to Mr. Trump. The attempt will fail, but only after it cleaves the Republican Party in two and further erodes confidence in Mr. Biden’s legitimacy among the president’s most ardent supporters.