Rep. Baumgartner eager to work in Congress

WASHINGTON D.C.–Happy New Year! Your new United States Representative Michael Baumgartner, Spokane, R-WA, has taken the official oath of office to become Washington’s 5th Congressional District spokesperson for the Eastern Washington region. He was elected to the position previously held by Cathy McMorris Rodgers and is now entrusted with representing the interests of the following counties: Spokane, Ferry, Stevens, Rend Oreille, Lincoln, Whitman, Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield, Asotin, and parts of Adams, and Franklin.

“I’m excited to get to work securing our border, reducing inflation, and fighting every day for the people of Eastern Washington.”

The following is his overview of that special time…

“It was a big day on Friday with the opening of the 119th Congress and the start of my service as Eastern Washington’s Representative!

It was wonderful to have Eleanor and the children, as well as my parents Delores and David, join me in Washington D.C. for the swearing-in ceremony.

We started the morning with the traditional interfaith prayer service, hosted by the House Chaplain at St Peter’s Catholic Church. Many Members of Congress were in attendance to pray for our Nation, the President, House Staff, the Supreme Court, our Armed Forces, and those we serve.

I particularly enjoyed the reading of Thomas Jefferson’s “Prayer for the Nation”. Jefferson is believed to have personally said the prayer each morning of his Presidency. (For those interested - I’ve included the prayer below at the bottom of this email.)

The first order of business for the opening of the 119th Congress was to elect a Speaker of the House. There are only 219 Republicans in Congress and 218 votes were required to elect the Speaker. With all 215 Democrats voting in opposition, President Trump took an active role in urging my fellow Republicans to come together in a unified vote for Mike Johnson.

Republican unity will be crucial to start moving forward with the urgent actions needed to fix our border security and get America back on track. With a tiny Republican majority, we have no time to lose.

It was very special having the kids join me on the House floor to watch the vote live. (Maria even took a short break from the Speaker debate to watch a little Bluey!)

After Speaker Johnson was elected, the next item of business was the official swearing-in for Members of the new Congress. The children stood with me as I swore to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States…So help me God.”

It’s the honor of a lifetime to be able to serve Eastern Washington in the United States of Representatives, and I am very grateful for your support!

My staff have quickly started work on setting up our D.C. office. We welcome visitors and hope you’ll come by and say hello anytime you make the trip to our nation’s capital. My office is in the Cannon Office Building, Room 124.

The Washington State University government relations team were among the first to stop by, and they gave us a few gifts from home to decorate the office!

Each new Congress, a pin is given to Members and their spouse. The pin signals to security officials that the bearer can enter restricted spaces on Capitol Hill. We thought the Reagan statue in the Capitol Rotunda would be a good spot for Eleanor to put mine on for the first time.

It’s now time to get to work! Thank you for standing with me, supporting our campaign and my family, and for all of your well wishes and prayers. I’ll continue to share more as often as I can. Please keep in touch!