Congress begins a new session today. Here are five things to watch out for

As the world approaches a new year, lawmakers gather at the US Capitol to begin the new Congress.

The 119th Congress begins on Friday with Republican majorities in both the US House and Senate.

That marks a trifecta for Republicans, given that President-elect Donald Trump is also returning to the White House later this month. The US has not seen unified control of all three branches of government since 2017, when Trump was last in office.

Republicans are eager to get started on an ambitious to-do list, but things may not be easy — and their majorities in both houses of Congress leave little room for dissent. The first test of the party’s unity will take place on Friday with the leadership elections in the House of Representatives.

Here are five things to look out for as the new session of Congress begins:

Republicans may have a majority in the House of Representatives, but a small one.

And it will be put to the test as soon as the session starts. The House cannot certify election results or pass laws until lawmakers elect the next Speaker, the House Leader.

Despite support from Trump, current Speaker Mike Johnson faces opposition from several members of his caucus who remain unconvinced he deserves a second chance.

The party’s majority is so thin that if Johnson loses just two Republicans in his campaign, it could trigger a series of votes until Republicans rally around the lawmaker. In 2023, it took Kevin McCarthy 15 rounds of voting and four days to become Speaker.

Johnson has already faced one tough no from Rep. Thomas Massey of Kentucky, but several other Republicans have listed themselves as undecided.

The Republican Party remained with a five-seat majority when the last House of Representatives election was called in the 2024 election. But that dwindled after Trump appointed several members of the House of Representatives to his administration.

“Do the math,” Johnson said during a news conference in early December. “We don’t have anything extra.”

In the Senate, lawmakers have already chosen their majority leader, with South Dakota Sen. John Thune winning the internal GOP vote.

That means senators can move on to official business on Friday, but they will face other challenges. Lawmakers are set to begin a series of confirmation hearings on some of Trump’s controversial questions appointees of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The Senate must sign off on about 1,200 appointments for the new president’s administration, but some of them will come with tense hearings drawing public attention. They will first appear before a Senate committee and answer questions before a vote in the full chamber.

Among the nominees, including Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegsethwho has been facing sexual assault allegations since 2017, which he denies, as well as his selection as health and human services minister, Robert Kennedy Jrwho is a vaccine skeptic with a history of spreading misinformation.

Trump’s election was seen last month on Capitol Hill to win over Republican senators. But the nominees will have to appear before bipartisan committees — meaning the hearings could get heated as senators from both parties use their platform to air criticisms and complaints.

However, the Senate could decide to accelerate confirmation hearings for some national security nominees — in the wake of the New Year’s Eve terrorist attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people and the car bombing outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel.

“The US Senate should confirm President Trump’s national security team as soon as possible. Lives depend on it,” Wyoming Sen. John Barroso wrote in a post on X.

A nomination that clears the committee doesn’t usually face opposition in the Senate, but given some of the initial reaction to Trump’s election, the road to confirmation could be bumpy.

One item at the top of the legislative agenda for Congress is the Trump Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which expires in 2025.

The 2017 law, which was passed while Republicans controlled the House and Senate, included a $1.5 trillion (£1.2 trillion) overhaul of the tax code, changes to tax brackets and lower tax rates for most taxpayers.

It was the biggest tax reform in decades. The biggest cuts hit businesses and the wealthy, which Democrats called for repeal.

Trump campaigned on the economy — promising to extend tax cuts, further cut corporate taxes and eliminate taxes on tips, overtime pay and Social Security income.

How Congress will do that — by expanding the 2017 bill, combining old and new legislation, or by other means — remains up in the air.

Keeping the provisions of the 2017 tax cuts would add about $4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. This may not sit well with many hard-line Republicans who strongly oppose increasing the national debt.

Expect the legislation to move on several key Republican priorities, from curbing illegal immigration to reducing government regulations.

There may be proposals to reduce military aid to Ukraine, introduce new tariffs, reduce clean energy spending and strengthen border security.

At a November press conference, Johnson outlined a Republican agenda aimed at reducing inflation, securing borders, restoring the country’s energy dominance, implementing “freedom of education” and “draining the swamp.”

Lawmakers will also need to address the debt ceiling — the total amount the U.S. can borrow to meet its obligations. The problem already arose at the end of 2024, when lawmakers faced a government shutdown.

Trump demanded that lawmakers raise or even suspend the debt limit in any spending deal, but that provision was left out of the final version of the bill that passed both chambers.

Perhaps several priorities could be combined in a so-called reconciliation bill, which allows Congress to pass a tax, spending and debt limit bill with only a majority vote. This method avoids mischief in the Senate, where opposition lawmakers can delay or even disrupt a vote.

However they decide to approach it, lawmakers may spend more personal time on Capitol Hill to decide their priorities next session.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune has scheduled many more days and weeks for the Senate — including work days on Mondays and Fridays, traditionally considered travel days.

The end of the last Congress allowed us to look into influence Trump and his allies is on the agenda of Congress.

Billionaire tech Elon Musk, tasked with advising the Trump administration on government spending cuts, has posted dozens of times on his social media platform X to denounce the spending deal Johnson brokered with Democrats to avert a government shutdown.

Trump and Vice President-elect J. D. Vance joined in and the bill was defeated.

Both Trump and Musk have threatened to cut funding and support from Republican incumbents who backed the bipartisan spending bill, raising questions about how much influence they will have on the legislative agenda.

Musk and pharmaceutical entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy may have more opportunities to weigh in. The pair will lead a newly created advisory committee that will deal with cutting regulations and costs.

On the other side of the aisle, Democrats are regrouping in hopes of taking back the House during the 2026 midterm elections. Expect center-left lawmakers to vie for influence.

Groups within the party hope to shape its future — such as the Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of lawmakers focused on advancing bipartisan legislation; the Blue Dog coalition, a group of centrist democrats; and the center-left, “pragmatic” New Democratic Coalition.