Rick Scott, Ted Cruz and the rest of the new committee chairmen for the 119th Congress in the Senate

The 119th Congress of the United States will begin next Friday, January 3, 2025. In addition to the White House, Republicans will hold the Senate and the House of Representatives, with all this implies regarding legislative functioning. For example, Senate committee chairmanships will pass on to Republican hands positions that will prove key to Donald Trump's agenda in the Senate.

Within each chamber, committees are groups or organizations formed by legislators who are in charge of working on a specific area and pushing or repealing laws in that regard. For example, there are committees on commerce, judiciary and foreign relations, among others.

The modern committee structure derives from the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. The Senate currently has 21 different committees. All of them will pass from Democratic to Republican hands as of January 3.

Some of the most powerful committees are as follows: appropriations, finance, banking, energy, commerce and Ways and Means.

The chairmen of the respective committees have a very important role, as, according to Congress' website, "they have the ultimate authority to set the committee's agenda; in essence, the chairman identifies the bills or issues that the committee will seek to formally act on through hearings."

From Jan. 3, 2025, to Jan. 3, 2027, when committee authorities could change based on the results of the midterm elections, these are the Republicans who will serve as committee chairmen in the U.S. Senate.

The new committee chairmen for the 119th Congress