New Democratic Senators Arrive at Capitol for Orientation

A group of newly elected Democratic senators met with Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer inside his US Capitol office on Monday, the first day of new-member orientation for lawmakers who won seats in last week's midterm elections, according to a photo gallery published by the Guardian.

The gallery, compiled by Guardian staff and drawn from wire photographers at Getty Images, EPA, AP and Shutterstock, documents incoming members of Congress touring the Capitol complex, riding the underground subway system that connects Senate office buildings to the chamber, and conferring with staff ahead of taking office.

Which senators-elect appeared with Schumer?

A photograph by Anna Moneymaker of Getty Images shows Schumer at the center of a group that included Sherrod Brown of Ohio, James Talarico of Texas, Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan, Josh Turek of Iowa and Roy Cooper of North Carolina, according to the Guardian's captions. A second image from the same session adds Juliana Stratton of Illinois, Chris Pappas of New Hampshire, Annie Andrews of South Carolina, Troy Jackson of Maine, Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota and Adam Hamilton of Kansas standing alongside Schumer.

El-Sayed, identified in the gallery as senator-elect from Michigan, was photographed separately by Nathan Posner of Anadolu/Getty Images at the Capitol and later by EPA photographer Jim Lo Scalzo riding the Capitol subway during orientation.

Eleven incoming Senate and House Democrats were pictured together with Schumer in his Capitol office on a single day of orientation, according to the Guardian's photo captions.

What happens during new-member orientation?

The Guardian's images show orientation activities typical of the days after a federal election: Talarico photographed conferring with staff following an orientation meeting inside the Capitol, Turek arriving with his wife, Jarolin De Leon Reyes, and Brown arriving with his wife, Connie Schultz, according to Associated Press photographer J. Scott Applewhite's captions. A separate image by Bonnie Cash of UPI/Shutterstock shows representatives-elect gathered as a group for orientation inside the Capitol.

The sessions typically cover logistics for members-elect before they are sworn in, though the Guardian gallery does not detail a formal agenda beyond the photographed tour, subway ride and staff meetings.

Which states are represented among the new arrivals?

The Guardian's gallery identifies incoming senators from at least six states — Michigan (El-Sayed), North Carolina (Cooper), South Carolina (Andrews), Ohio (Brown), Texas (Talarico) and Iowa (Turek) — alongside House or other statewide figures from Illinois, New Hampshire, Maine, Minnesota and Kansas who appeared in the same Capitol office photograph with Schumer.

By the numbers

• 16 photographs make up the Guardian's gallery of arriving members-elect.
• At least 11 incoming Democratic senators and representatives-elect were photographed together with Schumer during Monday's orientation.

Did Republicans also attend the same orientation?

One image in the gallery, credited to AP's J. Scott Applewhite, shows Andy Barr of Kentucky arriving alongside El-Sayed and Hamilton, indicating that orientation activities brought members-elect from both parties through the Capitol on the same day, even though the Guardian's gallery is framed around the Democratic winners of the 2026 midterms.

What's next for the incoming class of lawmakers?

• Members-elect photographed Monday are expected to be sworn in once the new Congress convenes, following the standard post-election transition process.
• Schumer's office meeting with incoming senators signals early coordination among Senate Democrats ahead of leadership and committee assignments.
• Further orientation sessions are likely in the weeks ahead as new members set up offices and hire staff, based on the Capitol tours and staff meetings already documented in the gallery.

The full set of images, including additional senators-elect arriving for orientation, is available in the Guardian's gallery.

What other moments did photographers capture?

Separate frames in the gallery show senators-elect arriving individually before the group meeting with Schumer. Nathan Posner of Anadolu/Getty Images photographed Cooper at the Capitol on Monday, and Posner's Shutterstock-credited image shows Andrews at the same building. A Win McNamee/Getty Images photograph places Talarico conferring with staff after an orientation session, while a separate Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA frame shows Talarico walking beneath the Capitol during the same day's subway transit used by incoming members, according to the Guardian's captions.

The gallery credits six photographers across four wire and photo services — Getty Images, EPA, AP and Shutterstock — reflecting the scale of press coverage assigned to track arriving lawmakers on the first day of orientation, per the Guardian's compilation by Briana Ellis-Gibbs.