Boehner Becomes Speaker of the House, Congress Resumes

San Francisco (Obama.net)- Prior to Wednesday, there have been sixty Speakers of the House of Representatives in the history of the United States Congress. On Wednesday, that number officially became sixty-one as Nancy Pelosi of California officially stepped down and John Boehner of Ohio took over as the Speaker of the House representing the Republican Party.

Boehner said of the new changes in Congress, “Hard work and tough decisions will be required of the 112^th Congress. No longer can we fall short. No longer can we kick the can down the road. The people voted to end business as usual and today we begin carrying out their instructions.”

Of the more than likely ideological differences between the Democrats and Republicans in the House, Boehner said “We can disagree without being disagreeable,” essentially saying he is more than open to working with Democrats to construct the best possible legislature for the American people.

In response, Nancy Pelosi said the same, but made it clear that important values will not be compromised in making legislature.

With the change in leadership, the control of the House also shifted as Republicans took their seats and the overall majority in the House for the first time since halfway through the second term in office of former President George W. Bush.

A total of 94 new members of the House of Representatives took office on Wednesday. Republicans now control the House with 242 seats and the Democrats only have 193. The shift was essentially a 180 from how it was for Obama’s first two years in office.

Also, the 112^th Congress saw no control shift in the Senate, but did see a loosening of control by the Democrats who lost six seats after the November Midterm Elections. A total of thirteen new men and women took their new seats as Senators. The Democrat to Republican ratio in the Senate is now 53-47. Neither side is close to the needed 60 votes to pass legislature in the Senate.

But as the Republicans take over the House, the rules for the House must be made clear by the new leaders.

One expected aspect of the new Congress would include the writing of a “Constitutional Authority Statement,” where the bill must spell out exactly where in the Constitution the right for such a law is given.

Also expected is a mandatory spending cut to match all spending increases so that the deficit spending does not continue to fall out of control.