The 116th Congress is seeing several newcomers. In the House, there are 100 newly elected Representatives, and in the Senate, there are 10. The House will be controlled by the Democrats and the Senate by the Republicans, making this Congress split when it comes to making decisions. The Democrats sure made a wave in the midterms, only needing to gain 23 seats, they gained 40 seats, making them the majority party by 17 seats. In the Senate, Republicans gained 4 seats and lost 2, making it a net gain of +2. The House Composition is 235 Democrats and 199 Republicans, with one race still to be called in North Carolina due to allegations of voter fraud. In the Senate, there will be 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats.

The new Congressional session will kick off with the hopes of resolving a partial government shutdown that went into effect right before Christmas. The shutdown was due to gridlock between the Presidents' border wall, and the Democrats unwillingness to fund the wall. With blame going all around, Congress is in one of the worst gridlocks we've seen in months. In 2018, there were three shutdowns, making it the most since 1977 when Jimmy Carter was president. Yes, that was 41 years ago. shutdowns don't happen often, and they have to do with funding. How will the government be funded for this time period? It all included political warfare between two parties that make demands within a spending bill. The most recent shutdown has to do with funding for Trump's border wall.

Congress is dysfunctional, but I guess government wouldn't be government without disfunction. Hopefully, the 116th Congress will be less tumultuous, but one could only hope. With a Democratic House and Republican Senate, there are sure to be more hiccups along the road. Our government wouldn't be what it is without clashing and disagreement, that's what makes a democracy. Hopefully, this new session will kick off with a resolution. We'll have to sit back and watch the new Congress get to work.