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Happy New Year, John! Yesterday was my first day on the Hill, and it should have been the day that I and other new members of the 118th Congress were sworn in to office — but that didn’t happen. For the first time in 100 years, the House failed to elect a Speaker on the first vote yesterday. Democrats united in supporting Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who received the most votes despite a GOP majority of five seats, but a member must receive a majority of House votes to become speaker. House Republicans, splitting their votes across multiple candidates, are in complete disarray. Far-right extremists can’t agree on who should lead, and as a result, we’ve spent the past two days holding six votes to elect a speaker, with no winner. Congress cannot function as long as this continues. After Democrats led the House for two years — putting pandemic relief checks in wallets and vaccines in arms, making the biggest investment in infrastructure in decades, and passing the first gun violence prevention bill in 30 years — the GOP have unleashed chaos in just their first two days in power. While we wait for Republicans to get it together, I’m ready to serve the people of New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District. Yesterday, we brought New Mexico to Washington: we officially opened my office with a mariachi band, celebrating with our NM House delegation, my abuela, and other family and friends by my side.
Now, if we can just get a speaker elected, I can get to work to deliver higher wages and lower costs, more affordable healthcare, public lands conservation, reproductive rights, and more!
I can’t wait to get to work for you. I’ll keep you posted on how this plays out! Gabe
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