Washington:

In a momentous occasion for Indian Americans, six of their leaders on Friday were sworn-in as the members of the US House of Representatives, the largest so far for this minority ethnic community in the United States.

“When I was first sworn in twelve years ago, I was the sole Indian American Member of Congress and only the third in US history. Now, our coalition is six strong! I am excited to welcome even more Indian Americans to the halls of Congress in the years to come!” Congressman Dr Ami Bera said in a post on X.

Bera, the senior most of them, who has been sworn-in for the seventh consecutive term as a representative of the seventh Congressional District of California, also posted a picture of all the six Indian American Congressman from the floor of the House.

Suhash Subramanian, who represents the 10th Congressional District of Virginia is the newest Indian American to be a member of the House of Representatives. “First day of work! Honoured to be sworn into the #119th Congress, and excited to get to work to deliver results for VA10,” he said as he posted a picture of him along with his family and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

“Ready to Serve,” said Congressman Shri Thanedar who represents the 13th Congressional District of Michigan as he posted a selfie of his from the House floor. All the six Indian American lawmakers are from the Democratic Party and voted for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in the election for House Speakership. Republican Mike Johnson was elected as the House Speaker.

Congressman Ro Khanna represents the 17th Congressional District of California and Raja Krishnamoorthi represents the eighth Congressional District of Illinois. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, representing the seventh Congressional District of Washington state, is the first ever Indian American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives.

All the three – Khanna, Krishnamoorthi and Jayapal – have been sworn-in for a fifth consecutive term, during which they have emerged as powerful lawmakers in their own way.

Krishnamoorthi is a Ranking Member of the powerful China Committee and also a member of the House Intelligence Committee. Jayapal is leader of the highly powerful progressive group of lawmakers. Khanna is not only a member of several powerful House committees, but also is seen as a potential presidential candidate in the years to some.

All the six Indian Americans constitute an informal Samosa Caucus, a term coined by Krishnamoorthi. When sworn in for the first term in 2012, Dr Bera had then wished to have 10 Indian Americans in the House of Representatives.

Several Indian Americans aspiring to be elected to the House lost elections either during the primaries or in the November 5 general elections. At least three of them were women: Sushila Jaipal, Bhavani Patel and Krystal Kaul.

Dalip Singh Saund was the first Indian American to be elected to the House of Representatives in 1957. Also, the first Sikh, he was elected for three consecutive terms. He was from the Democratic Party.

It took nearly five decades for a second Indian American to enter the US House of Representatives. Bobby Jindal represented the First Congressional District of Louisiana from 2005 to 2008. He later went on to become the two-term Governor of Louisiana, making him the first Indian American to be elected as the governor of a US State. Jindal is the only Indian American to be elected to the House on a Republican ticket. 

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Republican Mike Johnson was returned as speaker of the US House of Representatives on Friday with the crucial backing of incoming president Donald Trump, ending a bitter standoff that threatened to see the 2025 session opening in chaos.

Johnson had angered backbenchers by working with Democrats to pass legislation, and his victory was secured only after tense backroom negotiations that saw more than a dozen rank-and-file Republicans voice doubts over his leadership.

A chaotic 2023-25 session was marked by conservative anger in particular over the Louisiana lawmaker’s handling of spending negotiations, as fiscal hawks lined up to accuse him of being soft on the deficit.

In the end there were only three Republican holdouts as voting began — with all 215 Democrats backing their leader Hakeem Jeffries. Johnson was able to keep his speakership ambitions alive by persuading two to change tack.

With the exception of Kentucky conservative hardliner Thomas Massie, the opposition to Johnson always looked superficial, and he had spent much of the week working the phones and holding meetings with the conservatives who had opposed his candidacy.

He appeared to assuage some lingering doubts in the hours before the vote by pledging to “reduce the size and scope of the federal government, hold the bureaucracy accountable, and move the United States to a more sustainable fiscal trajectory.”

And Trump weighed in early Friday with a social media post wishing Johnson “Good luck” and declaring him “very close to having 100% support.”

With the vote looking set to go down to the wire, former Democratic speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is 84 and recently suffered a fractured hip, turned up to cast her ballot, wearing flat heels for possibly the first time in her career.

Defeat for Johnson would have marked another embarrassment for Trump, who was shown the limits of his sway over House Republicans after they rebuffed his demands for a suspension of the country’s borrowing limit in December.

– High stakes –

Trump’s looming presidential inauguration had also raised the stakes of the speakership fight, since the House would not have been able to certify the 78-year-old Republican’s victory, set for Monday.

Johnson would also have risked losing Trump’s support if the battle dragged out further, with moderate Republicans beginning to cast around for other options.

The speaker wields key influence in Washington by presiding over House business and is second in line to the presidency, after the vice president.

But Johnson has been weakened by the standoff with his party’s hardliners, who demonstrated the leverage they hold given the Republicans’ wafer-thin majority in the lower house of Congress.

“Mike Johnson brings people together to achieve a shared goal. He is deeply committed to conservative values and advancing a pro-America agenda. He is making Louisiana proud,” said Bill Cassidy, who represents Johnson’s home state in the Senate.

“Americans trust Mike to lead the House effectively and with integrity this Congress. I do too!”

House Republicans are scheduled to gather for a retreat in Washington on Saturday to talk about their plans for 2025, and the leadership meets again on Sunday in Baltimore.

But the first order of business will be to consider a controversial proposed change to its rules package — which governs daily operations — that would allow only Republicans to force a vote on removing the speaker.

Democrats argue that the reform would leave Johnson answerable only to his own side rather than whole chamber. In the last Congress, any single House member could introduce a “motion to vacate” the speaker’s chair.

The 36-page rules package for the 119th Congress raises the threshold to nine co-sponsors from the majority party.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)