WASHINGTON — Newly elected House lawmakers have descended upon the nation’s capital, gearing up for the next session of Congress to begin in January. 

What You Need To Know

  •  The 117th Congress features seven new members from Texas

  • All of them are Republican

  • Coronavirus remains top priority for lawmakers

The freshman class of the 117th Congress features seven new members from Texas, the most out of any state. Texas Democrats fell short of their goal to flip some of the several open U.S. House seats. Instead seven GOP members are joining a freshman class that includes Republican women who have expanded their ranks. But this year’s pandemic-era orientation is much more subdued, as the coronavirus remains top priority for lawmakers. 

There is a familiar face at the U.S. Capitol. Rep.-elect Pete Sessions back in Congress after a victory in Texas’s 17th Congressional District to replace outgoing Rep. Bill Flores. 

“The priorities that we will have are that the needs of the district are well within the budget of whoever the president is. It will take the new president, whoever it is, several months to put together their activities of the budget,” Sessions said. 

Sessions does not need an orientation. He was a House member serving North Texas for more than two decades, but lost reelection in 2018 when a Democrat flipped his seat. Sessions was the former chair of the House Rules Committee and chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee. 

District 17 stretches from his hometown of Waco to Bryan-College Station and reaches the suburbs of North Austin. 

“I do recognize that there are people who may have disagreed with the president, may disagree with me. I intend to be in every single county every single month, just as I did when I represented the fifth District of Texas, which is about 40 percent of this district,” the Congressman-elect said. 

Other new House members from the Lone Star State include former White House physician Ronny Jackson and former Mayor of Irving Beth Van Duyne. She is slated to be part of what will be the largest group of GOP women ever elected to Congress. 

Another freshman from Texas is political newcomer Rep.-elect Tony Gonzales, a U.S Navy veteran. 

“It's about being a reasonable, sensible member of Congress. There's not a lot of folks like that up here. We're going to look at all pieces of legislation through that lens. The first thing I think of on any piece of legislation is, ‘how is this going to impact the family unit?’” Gonzales said.  

Gonzales is preparing to represent what is considered Texas’s true swing district — Congressional District 23, which covers San Antonio to El Paso and runs along the U.S.-Mexico border. El Paso has been devastated by the latest coronavirus surge, and Gonzales says a stimulus package is needed. 

“You have a lot of small businesses that are just trying to survive, and (Paycheck Protection Program) loans, I thought were effective. We find that we need to find a way to ensure those small businesses have some relief, but at the end of the day, we got to get back to work, we got to do it safely,” Gonzales said. 

He understands it means reaching across the aisle for Texas. The new representatives know a divided House cannot stand. ​