The House swore in its newest Democratic member on Monday evening, filling one of two vacant seats and bringing the party’s conference back up to 213 members for the first time in nearly six months.
Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI) was sworn in to the lower chamber after winning a special election last week to fill the seat of former Rep. David Cicilline, who retired earlier this year to become CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation. Amo’s presence in the House brings the total number of lawmakers to 434, raising the majority threshold needed to pass legislation back up to 218.
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Amo was met with a standing ovation from both Democrats and Republicans during his swearing-in ceremony on Monday, with party members celebrating the newly elected lawmaker for becoming the first black candidate to be elected to Congress from the state of Rhode Island.
"As one of the original 13 states, Rhode Island has been electing representatives to the House since 1790. In those 233 years, Rhode Island has never sent an African American or any person of color to Congress until today," said Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI), who introduced Amo ahead of his swearing-in. "But Gabe Amo will be the first to tell you, he did not come here to make history. He came here to make a difference."
Amo took the floor to give his first speech as a member of Congress, laying out the priorities that he hopes to focus on as he finishes out Cicilline's term.
"Why I'm here is that we ensure our great hope for the future is met with profound action," he said. "Action to protect and strengthen retirement security, support our seniors, create economic opportunity and good-paying jobs, secure reproductive freedom, and keep politics out of the doctor's office. Ensure the livability of our planet for our children and their grandchildren, ban assault weapons and end gun violence, and stand up to the threats facing our democracy."
That could prove a challenge to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) just days ahead of the looming government shutdown deadline, as it narrows the Republican leader’s already-slim majority to just three votes if all members are present. However, at least one Republican, Rep. Mike Ezell (R-MS), announced he would be absent from votes this week, which would bring the threshold back down to 217.
Federal funding is set to lapse on Friday, after which the government will enter a temporary shutdown if lawmakers can’t pass legislation to continue current spending levels or some other spending agreement. Johnson unveiled his proposal for a continuing resolution over the weekend, which could maintain current fiscal levels with no spending cuts and delay appropriations deadlines until early next year.
The approach would implement two separate deadlines for the 12 annual appropriations bills, extending the bills for Agriculture, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development; and the Energy and Water appropriations bills until Jan. 19. The remaining bills would be extended until Feb. 2.
However, that plan has already been met with some resistance from House Republicans, who say they will not vote for a clean continuing resolution.
“It’s a 100% clean [resolution],” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) just minutes after the proposal was shared with GOP lawmakers. “And I 100% oppose.”
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At least five other Republicans said they would vote against the bill as well, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), George Santos (R-NY), Warren Davidson (R-OH), Bob Good (R-VA), and Scott Perry (R-PA). All six of the lawmakers, with the exception of Santos, voted against the continuing resolution passed at the end of September.
If those holdouts remain, Johnson could rely on Democratic support to get the spending legislation across the finish line. The House is expected to vote on the spending bill as early as Tuesday.