A New Year in Congress
Hello everyone, and welcome back to another year of Politics Explained. Happy Holidays to all who celebrate and a Happy New Year! We hope everyone is having a great start to the new year and we hope we can improve it by giving you some news about US politics. This week we had lots happening, including President-elect Donald Trump and his statements about various countries and the late President Carter’s funeral. Without further ado let’s dive right in.
Earlier this week President-elect Donald Trump stated that he wanted to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America”. He was doing a press conference at his residence in Mar-a-Lago when he stated this would be a huge change. Trump and his administration would have to work with Congress and the US Board of Geographic Names* to be able to change the name in America, then other countries would have to recognize it too. Trump has also stated that he would like to acquire Greenland, Canada, and re-acquire the Panama Canal. For Greenland and Canada, he stated that they would be very beneficial for the economic security of the U.S. Trump has also stated that he would like to make Canada our 51st state. Trump suggested that the best way to acquire Canada is by economic force. This will be a very interesting thing to watch in the upcoming months as not only will we have a switch in our government leaders, but also Canada will too with Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau resigning from his office. Next, Trump has also stated that he would like to have control over the Panama Canal. He said that he would definitely think about gaining control over the canal by using military force. With much more to come, including Trump’s Inauguration and his second set of first 100 days in the White House, we will keep everyone updated with whatever happens!
Earlier today former President Jimmy Carter was honored with a State funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington DC. All living former and current U.S. Presidents assembled together to honor the late President. Carter, who was the 39th President (1977-1981) died last month, having just passed his 100th birthday, which is a tremendous feat. A few people spoke at the funeral, including President Joe Biden, Carter’s grandsons Jason and Joshua, Steve Ford (Son of Former President Gerald Ford), Ted Mondale (Son of Carter’s Vice President), and Stu Eizenstat, a White House advisor during Carter’s time in office. This was a wonderful moment to honor the former President and see all the living Presidents come together.
Some other notes:
On January 3rd, all new Senator and House Representatives were sworn into Congress.
Also, on January 3rd John Thune became Majority Leader of the Senate with 53 Republicans on his side of the aisle.
On January 3rd, Speaker Mike Johnson retained his position and will continue to be the Speaker of the House in the 119th Congress.
On January 6th, Congress certified the election results stating that Donald Trump had won the 2024 Presidential election
Definition of the Week (U.S. Board of Geographic Names): A federal board that operates under the U.S. government and establishes names of certain places for the U.S. government.
