Day 1: 112th Congress

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The opening ceremonies have begun. The House is just finishing up the first vote of its 112th adjournment, a quorum call to ensure everyone’s present. The Capitol is brimming to full. Members lead families and friends on tours. Red coated docents are practically swallowed by the crowds under the dome. The Cannon rotunda is packed all the way around with every television outlet from the BBC to MSNBC doing live shots. Speaker-designate John Boehner’s family and friends are conveniently camped in the Cannon caucus room just steps away where everyone save his siblings will watch his election and speech. Next up: nominations for Speaker — Jeb Hensarling will first nominate Boehner — followed by a rare roll call vote for Speaker. After that, around 2pm, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will pass the gavel to Boehner, who’ll then speak.

I have a behind the scenes look at Boehner’s first week here.