5 months ago
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(NewsNation) — Dozens of caller lawmakers were sworn in, and Mike Johnson retained his presumption arsenic House talker Friday arsenic the 119th Congress convened.
Freshman Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, told NewsNation it is simply a "real grant to service the radical of Alaska present successful Washington, D.C.," conscionable an hr earlier helium was sworn successful Friday,
Begich defeated incumbent Democrat Mary Peltola with 48.5% of the vote. The businessman antecedently mislaid doubly to Peltola successful 2022. In the 2024 wide election, President-elect Donald Trump endorsed him.
"I deliberation we’ve got a batch of accidental with a unified House and Senate and presidency," Begich said. "We’ve got the trifecta, we’ve got to usage that to present connected the America First Agenda.”
The agenda, helium said, consists of tightening borderline security, monitoring ostentation and resolving satellite conflicts.
Begich said helium spent his archetypal time "meeting and getting to cognize a batch of my Republican colleagues," adding that helium has the adjacent 2 years to interact with Democratic lawmakers.
"At the extremity of the day, the American radical privation to spot results, and that’s going to instrumentality moving crossed the aisle erstwhile it makes sense," Begich said.
Across the aisle, the House's youngest pistillate member, Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., entered Congress with some excitement and apprehension.
"It's been a agelong travel to get to this point, and aft a grueling run and immense magnitude of hard enactment that went into this, I americium truly excited," Ansari said.
Ansari won her spot — formerly held by now-Senator Ruben Gallego — with 73.3% of the ballot against Republican Jeff Zink.
She acknowledged it's a challenging clip "to spell into Congress, with a trifecta number for Democrats. So, my squad and I person been moving truly hard unneurotic to hole connected each fronts what we anticipation to get done legislatively."
The girl of immigrants, Ansari asserted that the United States' "pro-immigration" stance is "what makes america special, that’s what makes america unique, that is what helps our system thrive.”
Ansari volition service arsenic the Democratic freshman people president and has already planned to conscionable with her Republican counterpart.
"I judge successful bipartisanship. I deliberation that if what Republicans person said is important to them — issues similar the economy, I’m each successful ... I’m acceptable to enactment with whoever, I privation to marque definite astatine slightest wrong my people we tin make those bipartisan relationships," Ansari said.
