C.2. Congressional Timekeeping and the Opening of a Congress

On the first day of each Congress, at 8:00 a.m., the Chief Justice will administer the congressional oath of office to a single Representative, chosen randomly by lot. That Representative will act as Acting Speaker of the House until a new Speaker is elected.

Under this Charter, the oath of office carries greater weight than it did with the Constitution of 1789, where its function was ceremonial. The oath is enforceable.

At the beginning of a Congress, technically, every Representative is beginning a term, even those who have been reelected to office. Since that is the case, each one needs to be sworn in. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is responsible for swearing in a single Representative, chosen by lot. That newly sworn Representative becomes the acting Speaker.

The Acting Speaker of the House will then administer the oath of office to each Representative. Similarly, the most senior Senator whose term has not expired, determined by date of election, then birthdate, and finally alphabetical order of first, last, and other names, if necessary, will administer the oath of office to each newly elected Senator.

The newly sworn-in acting Speaker immediately swears in all the other members of the House.

There is a similar procedure in the Senate. There, the most senior Senator whose term hasn’t expired is responsible for swearing in all the Senators beginning a new term.

This subsection may seem like unnecessarily detailed nitpicking. Micromanagement, if you will. It’s vital to spell it out, though. The reason is that there is a means to remove a member of Congress and bar them from ever holding any federal office again if they fail to uphold their oath of office.[1]

C.2(a). Oath of Office

C.2(b). Election of Leadership

C.2(c). Legislative Day

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[1] See Article IV, Section 7.A.4.