Before Maryland’s freshman class in the U.S. House of Representatives could officially celebrate their first day, the majority party needed to settle on its leadership: Who would be speaker of the House?

Incumbent Speaker Mike Johnson had spent over a year rallying a fractured Republican caucus to back his candidacy for the House’s top position. The Louisiana Republican has since garnered an endorsement from President-elect Donald J. Trump.

But Johnson’s willingness to work with Democrats on a last-minute government funding bill deal to head off a government shutdown in December prompted some hard-line House Republicans to defect from his base. For a while Friday, it looked as if he didn’t have the votes, but Johnson ultimately won reelection and tempered a Republican rebellion after over two hours and two rounds of votes.

All of Maryland’s incoming House class, including Johnny Olszewski Jr., April McClain Delaney and Sarah Elfreth, are Democrats who believe they can bridge the gap between Republicans, though Olszewski and Delaney told The Baltimore Banner they’d prefer to see Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries in the House’s top seat.

While the incoming class can’t participate in the speaker vote, their thoughts on the Johnson debacle illuminate how they might operate when they try to reconcile key issues with a fractured Republican majority.

The infighting in the Republican party, though, is still fresh and shows no signs of dying down. Democrats could capitalize on this tension among Republicans and gain new allies to overcome their political rivals’ slim House majority.

“I think it behooves any leader to find ways to have Democrats who can be supportive of their work,” Olszewski said. “With the most recent continuing resolution, it required Democrats to be part of the answer to keep the government funded and keep things moving along. That’s sort of the spirit we’re going to have to bring all the challenges in front of us.”

Delaney believes she can bridge the fissure between Democrats and Republicans with her “common sense, common ground” mindset.

“Competitiveness, innovation. These are things the GOP says they want to work on,” Delaney said. “We’re two seats apart from the Republicans. The [Democratic] caucus is going to be very united. The GOP is going to have to work with us.”

Elfreth, who represents Howard County and parts of Anne Arundel and Carroll counties, said she would continue to work on post-traumatic stress disorder, particularly among veterans, and probably look at alternative therapies, though she didn’t explain how she’d accomplish this under a Republican majority. The House has at times split over veteran health care matters. Months ago, Democrats criticized a House Republican funding bill they said would have shortchanged veterans and reduced available care.

Elfreth previously said her purple district, and her history of working across the aisle in the state Senate, sets her up well to work with Republicans.

The Johnson vote delayed what was likely the highlight of the day for these Maryland House freshmen: the swearing in ceremony. Johnson asked the members-elect to stand and raise their right hands before he administered the oath of office.

“Congratulations,” Johnson said, “you are now members of the 119th Congress!”

The room erupted in cheers and handshakes.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day on the other side of the U.S. Capitol, newly sworn-in U.S. Senator Angela Alsobrooks, the first Black woman elected to represent Maryland in the Senate, was welcomed by one of her predecessors, former Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who retired in 2017.

For Olszewski and his team, their next move in the House was clear: They had to redecorate his office. The representative — unnamed — who previously occupied the office on the third floor of the Longworth building had done a poor job decorating, Olszewski said.

The table wasn’t supposed to be positioned by the door. He hated the long light fixture because he’d hit his head on it. The feng shui of the office was all wrong.

Now, they had to fill the chestnut bookshelves and get computers.

Maybe they’d also get rid of the pesky light fixture.

Baltimore Banner columnist Rick Hutzell contributed to this report.