Dear Friend,

This finishes up another week of legislative business in Washington, D.C. Below you will find some of the interesting things that happened this week. If you would like to see daily updates on my work in Washington D.C. and Oregon's Second District, please follow us on Facebook HERE!

This is a picture of the Anacostia River just above its confluence of the Potamic River, taken by Congressman Cliff Bentz (1/11/2025)

Last Year's Continuing Resolution (CR)

To state the obvious, our nation’s budgeting process doesn’t work.  The reasons for this are many, but at the congressional level, they boil down to the fact that a few Republican members of either the “spend more” group (the Senate) or the “spend less” group (the House) can and do often stall out and stop the budgeting process. When the adoption of the twelve appropriation bills needed to fund the government is delayed beyond the date that funding is exhausted, a “continuing resolution” (“CR”) (a law which adopts and continues the existing budget for a fixed period of time) is offered and usually passed, and this keeping the government funded and operating. This is exactly what happened in the weeks just before the 2024 Christmas break. The third version of the CR which was eventually passed included 100 billion of emergency spending for victims of hurricanes, typhoons, and fires; 10 billion of emergency spending for farmers; a one year extension of some of the provisions of the Farm Bill, a few other things, and authorization for continued funding of all government programs in an amount equal to the last fiscal year’s (ending September 30th) appropriations. It did not contain an increase in the spending limit, as President Elect Trump had requested.

There is some confusion over how I voted on these bills. Let the record be clear: there was NO VOTE on the first CR which was some 1500 pages long. This was the bill that Musk and Ramaswamy and eventually president elect Trump opposed. Among other things, it contained a congressional pay “COLA” (cost of living) provision which I do not support.  As opposition grew, leadership decided not to bring the bill to the floor.

The second CR, a little over 100 pages long, contained those things listed above AND a provision that would have suspended the debt ceiling for two years. I voted FOR this bill. 38 of my Republican colleagues and nearly all the Democrats voted against this bill even though President elect Trump had asked that are of us Republicans support it. The bill failed to pass.

The third CR was much the same as the second except it did not contain anything regarding the debt ceiling. President elect Trump again urged support for the bill.  I voted FOR this bill and it passed with 170 Republicans voting for it, and 34 Republicans voting against it. The bill extends funding through March 14th, 2025. Although there is reason to hope that our budget process will improve with the election of a Republican controlled Senate and the arrival of President Trump, past performance suggests otherwise.

Re-Election of Speaker Johnson

The new 119th Congress started at noon, January 3rd, 2025. Since one of the first orders of business is to elect a Speaker the first session is called to order by the clerk of the House. Before voting can begin, candidates must be nominated. Lisa McClain, Congresswoman from Michigan, nominated Mike Johnson. Congressman Pete Aguilar of California nominated Hakeem Jefferies.  

Four “tellers” were appointed, two Republicans and two Democrats. They took their seats on the lower level of the dias in the front of the House chamber. It’s their job to tabulate the votes.

The clerk calls out each member by name, in alphabetical order. When your name is called, you stand up and loudly say the name of the person you are voting for. This process continues until all names of all elected members are called out.  

There are currently 219 Republicans and 215 Democrats. To be elected, it takes the “magic number” of 218 votes- one over one-half (217 is one-half).  

It’s up to the member how to vote- if you want someone other than the person nominated, you can call out that other person’s name. this is exactly what happened- three Republicans called out names other than “Johnson” leaving Johnson two votes short of the 218 needed. It took about an hour for Johnson to convince two of the three members to change their votes to him. The floor vote was held open.  These two (Ralph Norman and Keith Self) eventually came back to the floor and told the clerk that they wished to change their votes to Johnson.  This gave him the magic number and he was thus re-elected to the Speakership.  

The job that Mike Johnson has is incredibly difficult. I think, like President elect Trump, that Mike has done and is doing an excellent job. He isn’t perfect, but he is smart, hardworking, and totally dedicated to making this country work better.  I am pleased that he was re-elected.

Swearing in the 119th Congress

To be a member of congress, you must take the following oath:  

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic: that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter so help me God.”  

Until being sworn in, even though elected, you are not a member of congress.  The person administering the oath is the Speaker.  

This is the third time I have had the incredible privilege of taking the oath. The first time, in 2021, was a confusing mess.  Speaker Pelosi had the challenging job of administering the oath as we milled about on the floor being constantly admonished to maintain Covid generated “social distance”. No one paid any attention.   I recall that Speaker Pelosi was trying to round up all freshmen “in the well” (directly in front of the dias) on the House floor. She finally gave up and simply told everyone to raise their hands as she read the oath and we all said “yes”.  

The second time, in 2023, Speaker McCarthy administered the oath, but everyone was worn out after the 15 votes over five days that it took to get him elected.  The swearing in was supposed to be at around noon on January 3rd- it actually took place in the very early morning hours of Saturday the 7th of January!  

This time, in 2025, the process was almost normal, with the oath being administered only an hour or so after the process of selecting the Speaker started.  This was a good thing, because many of the members bring their families to Washington D.C. to watch, so little kids and family members are on the floor, in the galleries, and just about everywhere else. Needless to say, having to wait days for a speaker to be selected so that he or she can swear members in means everyone who came to watch the swearing in (such as my wife back in 2023) eventually has to gives up and goes home.  This is pretty sad for families with kids, siblings, parents and grandparents who had hoped to attend.   The good news is that we did select our Speaker in a timely fashion and family members who had travelled hundreds and even thousands of miles had the once in a lifetime chance to see their loved one sworn in as a member of the 119th Congress.

Certifying the Electoral Votes

This is the photo of the Floor as we wait for the Senate to arrive

Four years ago, the certification of the Electoral votes, which the constitution says is to happen on January 6th, was interrupted by violence but ultimately was finalized the morning of January 7th. This year, the process was far less fraught.  

Senators and House members met in a joint session in the House beginning at 1 p.m. to tally the votes from the 50 states. The Vice President, as president of the Senate, presides over the count and when the count is complete, she announces the results. She is referred to as “Madam President” which is a bit confusing, but she is the President of the Senate. The “certificates of vote” reflect the votes of the state electors and are delivered to the President of the senate no later than the fourth Wednesday of December. These certificates are delivered to the clerk in a specially designed electoral college ballot box.

This is the leather box that holds the Electoral votes

During the joint session, the ballots are removed from the box, handed in alphabetical order to alternating senators and congress members, who then read them out loud to everyone in the House chamber.

When this process is complete, and if no objections have been made, The President of the Senate announces the totals of the electoral college. In this case, President elect Trump received 312 electoral votes, Harris received 226.  The number needed to win was 270.

My Congressional Committees for the 119th Congress

For the past four years I have been on two committees:  the Judiciary committee and the Natural Resources Committee.  These are excellent committees, and I have enjoyed the opportunities that each has afforded me and my congressional district. However, it has become apparent that I could do a better job for my district and Oregon as a member of the Energy and Commerce committee (“E & C”). This is so because E & C has jurisdiction over many of the activities and resources found in Oregon and more particularly, in CD-2. Therefore, I campaigned for a seat on E & C, and I am pleased to report that I have been selected to be on that committee.  

E & C is what is known as an “A” committee, and members of “A” committees are normally not allowed to be on any other committees.  However, a member can ask for a waiver of this rule. I did ask for such a waiver, and I am pleased to report that it was granted, so I am still also a member of the Natural Resources committee. I asked to be and was re-appointed to the Water, Wildlife and Fisheries subcommittee, and the Federal Lands subcommittees. I am still awaiting word on my subcommittee assignments on E & C.

The Passing of President Jimmy Carter

This is the program detailing the lying-in-state of President Carter.

Jimmy Carter was 56 years old in 1980 when he lost the presidency to Ronald Reagan.  He lived for 44 more years.  Many say that he had a far more successful time as a former president than he did as president, but that comparison aside, there is absolutely no doubt that he committed much of his life to the alleviation of human suffering. 

I had the privilege of attending the ceremony surrounding the arrival of President Carter’s remains to the U.S. Capitol last Tuesday.  There was standing room only in the rotunda as the military paid its respects with a 21-cannon salute and the Vice President, Speaker, and Senate Majority leader provided short eulogies.  

Whatever our political differences might have been, President and citizen Jimmy Carter is a man who will be remembered as having given his life to public service and as many have said, there is absolutely no doubt that he left our world the better for his having been part of it.

House Calendar, 119th Congress

This is the House calendar. The days in orange are days that the House is “in session” (we are voting); the days in black, other than the ends and beginnings of weeks, are the days that we try to be in District. Obviously, when one lives on the west coast, and without a direct flight from D.C. to Boise (I drive from Boise the hour or so to my home in Oregon) getting back to Oregon on Friday and then having to return to D.C. on Sunday doesn’t leave much time for traveling around the District. I often remain in D.C. over the weekends working on legislation, the newsletter, reading, and doing research.

We are scheduled to be “in session” (in the D.C. office, reviewing bills, voting and in committee meetings) for 113 days this year. The full weeks we are not in session are usually spent in District, holding town halls, meeting with constituents, and reviewing case work being done in my three Oregon locations -- Medford, Deschutes County, and Ontario.

Inauguration of President Trump

President Trump will be inaugurated for the second time on Monday, January 20th.   Members of Congress who are attending have been instructed to gather in the House chamber in the Capitol building at 9:45 AM.  Around 10:00 AM we will be lead out of the chamber, down the hallway and out of the West front of the Capitol onto the inauguaral platform.  Members are grouped by “class” (your “class” is determined by your year of election). We will be seated somewhere on the platform but up and behind the President and his cabinet nominees. The ceremony starts at 11:30. Weather forecast predicts a high of 35 degrees and a low of 20 degrees with winds up to 13 mph.  

Each Representative member of congress was given about 200 tickets- 21 seated and 180 standing. Some 200,000 tickets were issued by the joint congressional committee; in addition, some 800,000 tickets were issued by the Presidential inaugural committee.  Our office alone had about 1100 initial responses for tickets.  Needless to say allocating the tickets we were given has been a challenge.

Here is a map of the platform and the areas where people will be gathered, click here. 

Additional Photos

Photo of the Inauguration platform captured by my Deputy Chief of Staff, Ally Hibben

Mittens made by Congressman Bentz's daughter, Allison, for him to wear to the Inauguration (it's supposed to be around 25 degrees!)