At noon today, a quorum was established in the House to establish the 110th Congress. Shortly thereafter (O.K., the quorum took 35 minutes), Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) nominated Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker amidst much cheering and applause. John Boehner (R-OH) was nominated minority leader. After an hour-long vote by manual roll call, John Boehner passed the gavel to Nancy Pelosi, newly elected as the first female House Speaker and the highest ranking elected female official in the nation’s history (she’s second in line to the presidency, behind the vice president).

Today's program is full of a lot of pomp and hobnobbing. Not much is accomplished. The "100 Hours" of legislation does not begin until Tuesday (look for a post on legislation then).

First up, Rush Holt (D-NJ) asked for Speaker Pelosi's support of Christine Jennings in her ongoing challenge of the election she lost to Vern Buchanan (R) in Florida's district 13, where 18,000 votes cast by electronic ballot registered no vote. Pelosi approved. Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam (FL) disapproved. This is the only election result still actively contested; stay tuned.

They are currently adopting the new House Rules (full text; summary) that include several notable changes:

• In response to the Jack Abramoff scandal, gifts and trips paid for by lobbyists are no longer allowed without prior approval.
• House members will be allowed 24 hours to read legislation.
• They can not be prevented from attending committee hearings.
• They will have to list earmarks and benefits put into any bill and make them public.
• The budget can not allow the federal deficit to increase over 5- or 10-year period.