(NewsNation) — Dozens of new lawmakers were sworn in, and Mike Johnson retained his position as House speaker Friday as the 119th Congress convened.
Freshman Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, told NewsNation it is a “real honor to serve the people of Alaska here in Washington, D.C.,” just an hour before he was sworn in Friday,
Begich defeated incumbent Democrat Mary Peltola with 48.5% of the vote. The businessman previously lost twice to Peltola in 2022. In the 2024 general election, President-elect Donald Trump endorsed him.
“I think we’ve got a lot of opportunity with a unified House and Senate and presidency,” Begich said. “We’ve got the trifecta, we’ve got to use that to deliver on the America First Agenda.”
The agenda, he said, consists of tightening border security, monitoring inflation and resolving world conflicts.
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Begich said he spent his first day “meeting and getting to know a lot of my Republican colleagues,” adding that he has the next two years to interact with Democratic lawmakers.
“At the end of the day, the American people want to see results, and that’s going to take working across the aisle when it makes sense,” Begich said.
Across the aisle, the House’s youngest female member, Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., entered Congress with both excitement and apprehension.
“It’s been a long journey to get to this point, and after a grueling campaign and immense amount of hard work that went into this, I am really excited,” Ansari said.
Ansari won her seat — formerly held by now-Senator Ruben Gallego — with 73.3% of the vote against Republican Jeff Zink.
She acknowledged it’s a challenging time “to go into Congress, with a trifecta minority for Democrats. So, my team and I have been working really hard together to prepare on all fronts what we hope to get done legislatively.”
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The daughter of immigrants, Ansari asserted that the United States’ “pro-immigration” stance is “what makes us special, that’s what makes us unique, that is what helps our economy thrive.”
Ansari will serve as the Democratic freshman class president and has already planned to meet with her Republican counterpart.
“I believe in bipartisanship. I think that if what Republicans have said is important to them — issues like the economy, I’m all in … I’m ready to work with whoever, I want to make sure at least within my class we can create those bipartisan relationships,” Ansari said.
