The House gained its newest Republican member on Tuesday evening, filling the final vacant seat in the lower chamber and bringing the total number of lawmakers back to 435 for the first time in six months.
Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-UT) was sworn into office after winning a special election last week to fill the seat of former Rep. Chris Stewart, who retired in September, citing concerns for his wife’s health. Maloy’s presence brings the GOP conference back up to 222, giving Republicans a slightly bigger cushion to pass legislation by reinstating their four-seat majority — for now, that is.
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Maloy’s swearing-in makes her the sixth Republican member of Congress from Utah and the only female from the state’s current delegation. Maloy is the first woman to serve the Beehive State in Congress since former Rep. Mia Love (R-UT) was defeated in 2018.
She’s also the first woman to represent Utah’s 2nd Congressional District since 1997, which encompasses much of the western portion of the state, stretching from the outskirts of the Salt Lake City area down to St. George in the south.
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Maloy’s swearing-in comes just days before the House is expected to vote on whether to oust Rep. George Santos (R-NY), which would once again leave the lower chamber with a vacant seat until a new member is elected to replace him. Santo’s seat is also situated in a district that leans Democratic, giving the minority party a chance to chisel away at Republicans’ already slim majority.
Santos’s expulsion will be one of the first pieces of legislation Maloy will vote on, as House leaders must bring it to the floor for consideration sometime before they adjourn on Thursday. The newest House member has not given any indication yet of how she may vote.
