The House of Representatives must reconstitute itself at the beginning of each Congress. On the first day of a new Congress, the House follows a well established routine of electing the Speaker and the administrative officers of the House, administering the oath of office to the Members, adopting the rules of procedure, electing Members to standing committees, and establishing a daily hour of meeting.

The House Convenes. When a new Congress convenes, the Clerk of the previous House is the presiding officer until the new Speaker is elected and sworn in. As with the start of each new legislative day, the Chaplain offers a prayer and the Members-elect take the Pledge of Allegiance. The Clerk then takes the roll (by electronic device) in order to ascertain the presence of a quorum.

Election of the Speaker. The first order of official business is the election of the Speaker of the House. Traditionally, one candidate each from the majority and minority party is nominated for Speaker from the floor by the chairs of their respective party caucus. After nominations are made the clerk appoints Members to serve as majority and minority tellers, usually two each, to record the vote. The tellers take their place at the Speaker's rostrum. The voting process for the election of the Speaker is a viva voce roll call vote. The roll is called and Members respond orally by calling out the surname of their choice for Speaker. The candidates for Speaker customarily are recorded as "present." After the votes have been tallied and the name of the new Speaker is announced, the Clerk appoints a committee to escort the Speaker to the Chair. The committee consists of majority and minority party leaders as well as Representatives-elect from the Speaker's home state. The Speaker is introduced from the Chair by the Minority Leader, who delivers a short statement and then hands the gavel over to the new Speaker. The Speaker then responds with a statement before taking the oath of office. By precedent, the "dean" of the House, the most senior member (regardless of party), administers the oath to the Speaker. The oath taken by the Speaker is identical to that of the other Members.

Oath of Office. Article VI of the Constitution requires that all Representatives "...shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution;..." After taking the oath, the Speaker then administers the oath of office to all Members of the House, Delegates and Resident Commissioner, en masse. Occasionally the swearing in of a Member-elect is delayed. When this happens, the Member-elect is sworn in at a later date in the House chamber or elsewhere by the provisions of a House resolution. If an objection is made to the swearing in of a Member-elect, the Speaker, pursuant to House precedents, will ask the Member-elect to stand aside while the others are sworn in. The question on the objection is then addressed subsequently by the House. Even though a Member-elect has not been sworn in, it does not deprive him of any right as a Member. Also, the swearing in of a Member-elect to a contested seat is not a final determination over the right to that seat under the Federal Contested Elections Act.

Announcement of House Party Leaders. After administering the oath of office, the Speaker receives reports from the chairmen of the Republican Conference and the Democratic Caucus, separately, as to who will be the Majority and Minority Leaders. The chairmen then report who will be the Majority and the Minority Whips in the same manner.

Election of House Officers. The next order of business is the election of House administrative officers. They are the Chief Administrative Officer, Chaplain, Clerk, and Sergeant at arms. This is done by a simple resolution, nominating the slate of candidates, offered by the chairman of the majority conference or caucus. The minority party may propose its own slate of candidates as an amendment to the resolution. By tradition, neither the resolution nor the amendment are debated, although the slate can be divided with a separate vote on any or all officers. After passage of the resolution the Speaker administers the oath to the newly elected officers.

Notification to the Other Body and the President. The House next considers resolutions to formally notify the Senate and the President that it has elected a Speaker, is assembled, and is ready to receive messages from them. Subsequently, the Majority and Minority Leaders and Clerk of the House, as well as two Senators (usually the Majority and Minority Leaders) appointed by the Vice President telephone the President with the news that Congress is ready to begin work.

Adoption of House Rules of Procedure. Unlike the Senate, the House must adopt its rules at the beginning of each Congress. Up until this point on an opening day, the House has been operating under general parliamentary law as modified by certain traditional House rules and practices (often the applicable House rules of the previous Congress, although these are not binding). The House approves its rules by adopting en bloc the rules of the previous Congress with amendments as a simple resolution offered by direction of the majority party conference or caucus. This resolution is debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by a proponent and an opponent. After the time for debate has expired, the majority party will move the previous question. At this point, the minority party generally offers a motion to commit the rules package to a select committee (technically no House committees exist at this point) for further examination or they may offer a motion to commit with "instructions," which act as an amendment to the resolution.

House Committee Organization. The committee assignment process occurs within the Republican Conference and the Democratic Caucus. The only floor action is the adoption of two resolutions which implement the committee nominations agreed upon by the conference and the caucus respectively. The adoption of these resolutions are routine and occur without amendment. Committee assignments cannot be considered on the House floor until both the Republican Conference and the Democratic Caucus have adopted their own rules governing committee assignments. The House takes up the assignments resolutions on opening day, but committee assignments usually continue for several weeks.

Daily Meeting Time. The House establishes its daily hour of meeting by a resolution which must be renewed each session of Congress. The resolution is traditionally offered by the chairman of the Rules Committee.

Other First-Day Floor Actions. The Speaker also customarily announces his policies with respect to certain floor practices for the duration of the Congress, such as one minute and special order speeches. Resolutions are often adopted designating certain minority party employees to special pay status, providing for a joint session of Congress to receive the President's State of the Union message, and providing for conditional adjournments of the House. This is also the time when the House may adopt a resolution providing for the counting of the electoral votes for President and Vice President by the new Congress, continue the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, and authorize the use of the Capitol for inaugural activities. After the organizational business has been completed, the House may then turn to other routine business (such as special orders) which normally complete the legislative day.