RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
There are 96 new members of the House of Representatives and nearly all of them are Republicans.
NPR's Don Gonyea spent yesterday with one new GOP member who found that before you legislate, it's good to caffeinate.
DON GONYEA: David Schweikert is from Arizona's 5th District. That's Tempe and Scottsdale, and a huge swath of the desert. He defeated a Democratic incumbent. He sees the federal debt as a looming crisis. But early yesterday morning he was simply trying to figure out the new cappuccino machine in his office.
Representative DAVID SCHWEIKERT (Republican, Arizona): Okay. So we got foam, now all we need is some coffee and the milk.
(Soundbite of laughter)
(Soundbite of coffee machine)
Rep. SCHWEIKERT: I think we may have finally reached success. So it's not getting sworn in today. It's getting the espresso maker to actually work.
GONYEA: Schweikert explains that he bought the machine with his own money as a perk for his staff and himself. His 20-something chief of staff hands him a printed copy of the day's schedule. He looks it over. It's jam-packed. There's a 9 a.m. bipartisan prayer service.
Rep. SCHWEIKERT: Then we're going to go over and go get our official pin and official ID for Joyce, my wife, and myself. Then we have another couple television interviews in the rotunda. Then I have a couple phone calls to make. Then we walk over to the floor of the House, and it begins.
GONYEA: But first, his staffers still trickle in. There's a live phone interview with a TV station back home.
Rep. SCHWEIKERT: Hi there, it's David Schweikert. I was told to call in right about now.
Unidentified Woman #1: Yes. Just one second.
Unidentified Man (News Anchor): Good morning.
Rep. SCHWEIKERT: Good morning.
GONYEA: The anchor raises a topic Schweikert is asked about a lot: the health care law. The new congressman's response is right in line with the Republican Party playbook on the issue.
Rep. SCHWEIKERT: The reality of it is it's a job-killing health care reform bill as it is today. And if one of our greatest needs, particularly in Arizona, is we have to create more jobs, we have to create economic growth, then we have to step up and reverse the bad parts of this health care reform.
GONYEA: Schweikert ran for this seat back in 2008 and lost. Then he rode the Republican wave to victory last November. He got help from the Tea Party movement, which promises to keep the pressure on him and others it backed in the election. Schweikert says he's OK with that.
Rep. SCHWEIKERT: If the Tea Party stays consistent on its fiscal conservatism, I have the feeling we're going to be best of friends. I've been a debt hawk for 20 years.
GONYEA: On another issue, he says that right now he's a no vote on raising the debt ceiling, though he doesn't say what cuts need to be made to get spending under control.
Rep. SCHWEIKERT: No matter what happens, we're in for tough medicine.
GONYEA: By mid-morning yesterday, after the prayer service and after the interviews and after getting his congressional voting card, it was back to the office for a reception for friends, supporters, some family of staffers, and at least one lobbyist who dropped by to make introductions. Still, the basic chores of setting up shop kept coming.
Rep. SCHWEIKERT: You've reached our office after hours or we're all on other lines.
GONYEA: Things like recording the outgoing message for the office voicemail.
Rep. SCHWEIKERT: ...leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
Unidentified Woman #2: You want to hear it?
Rep. SCHWEIKERT: I want you to listen to it and see if you're comfortable with that.
GONYEA: The morning flies by; suddenly it's close to noon, the scheduled start time for the first meeting of the new Congress. Schweikert, his wife Joyce, and his staff navigate the maze of underground tunnels that connect his building to the Capitol itself. He talks as he walks.
Rep. SCHWEIKERT: There's that sense that - that antsiness of, OK, the ceremony stuff is great. Let's get our teeth into something. We're executing tradition, as we should, and then, you know, we have the people's work to do.
GONYEA: And with that, Schweikert walks into the chamber to be sworn in as part of the new GOP majority.
Don Gonyea, NPR News, Washington.