House Floor Activity 

 

Friday, January 3, 2020

12:02 PM The Speaker announced that the House do now adjourn pursuant to section 8(c) of H. Res. 758. The next meeting is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on January 7, 2020.

12:02 PM The Chair announced that pursuant to section 8(a) of H. Res. 758, no organizational or legislative business will be conducted on this day and that bills and resolutions introduced today will receive a number but will not be referred to committee or noted in the Record until a subsequent day. The Chair also announced that executive communications, memorials, and petitions likewise will be referred and numbered on a subsequent day.
12:02 PM PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – The Chair led the House in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
12:00 PM Today’s prayer was offered by the House Chaplain, Rev. Patrick J. Conroy.
12:00 PM The Speaker designated the Honorable Jamie Raskin to act as Speaker pro tempore for today.
12:00 PM The House convened, starting a new legislative day, pursuant to the 20th Amendment to the Constitution for the meeting of the second session of the 116th Congress.
11:55 AM The Speaker announced that the House do now adjourn Sine Die.
11:55 AM The House convened, returning from a recess continuing the legislative day of January 3.
11:01 AM The Speaker announced that the House do now recess. The next meeting is subject to the call of the Chair.
11:01 AM PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – The Chair led the House in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

5:00 pm H.R. 535PFAS Action Act of 2019
Committee on Rules

 

 

Congress sets January 7, 1789 as the date by which states are required to choose electors for the country’s first-ever presidential election. A month later, on February 4, George Washington was elected president by state electors and sworn into office on April 30, 1789.
As it did in 1789, the United States still uses the Electoral College system, established by the U.S. Constitution, which today gives all American citizens over the age of 18 the right to vote for electors, who in turn vote for the president. The president and vice president are the only elected federal officials chosen by the Electoral College instead of by direct popular vote.
Today political parties usually nominate their slate of electors at their state conventions or by a vote of the party’s central state committee, with party loyalists often being picked for the job. Members of the U.S. Congress, though, can’t be electors. Each state is allowed to choose as many electors as it has senators and representatives in Congress. During a presidential election year, on Election Day (the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November), the electors from the party that gets the most popular votes are elected in a winner-take-all-system, with the exception of Maine and Nebraska, which allocate electors proportionally. In order to win the presidency, a candidate needs a majority of 270 electoral votes out of a possible 538.

READ MORE: Why Was the Electoral College Created?

Citation Information
Article Title
First U.S. presidential election
Author
History.com Editors
Website Name
HISTORY
URL
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-u-s-presidential-election
Access Date
January 6, 2020
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
January 6, 2020
Original Published Date
November 24, 2009

history.com