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This is what today's historic swearing-in of the 116th Congress looked like
This is what today's historic swearing-in of the 116th Congress looked like
Mariana AlfaroJan 4, 2019, 03:01 IST
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 3: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) swears in House members during the first session of the 116th Congress at the U.S. Capitol January 03, 2019 in Washington, DC. Under the cloud of a partial federal government shutdown, Pelosi reclaimed her former title as speaker and her fellow Democrats took control of the House of Representatives for the second time in eight years.Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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The most diverse Congress in US history was sworn in on January 3, 2019.
New Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi led the swear-in ceremony for House members. Vice President Mike Pence led the ceremony at the Senate.
More than 100 women were sworn in as members of Congress today, a historic record.
Nancy Pelosi was handed back the gavel by House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy.
She then administered the oath to the members of the 116th Congress.
Pelosi received 220 votes and reassumed her role as Speaker.
Pelosi's granddaughter was quite excited to see her grandma become speaker.
Pelosi is the only woman to ever serve as Speaker of the House.
This is the most diverse Congress ever in US history.
New York's Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became the youngest congresswoman ever.
Ocasio-Cortez wore a white pantsuit, which many have taken as a nod to the suffragette movement.
Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American elected to the House, wore a Palestinian thobe to the ceremony.
Tlaib, from Michigan, is one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress. Arab-American activists and 100 kids from Detroit came to Washington to support her.
Like Ocasio-Cortez, Representative Ilhan Omar, one of the first two Muslim women in Congress, wore white.
Deb Haaland, one of the first Native American women elected to Congress, wore traditional Pueblo clothing.
Online, many of the new and returning women of the House celebrated what California Representative Barbara Lee called the "first day of a new era."
The swearing-in ceremony happened on the 13th day of the third government shutdown of the Trump administration. Pelosi has said Democrats will re-open the government now that they have control of the House.
