Lawmaker is House guest for a few weeks

Shelley Sekula-Gibbs was sworn in as a congresswoman Monday night, and already she’s a lame duck. Due to a weird electoral quirk, her term in office expires next month.

But you couldn’t tell that by listening to her.

“I’m working hard to accomplish the things I’m working for,” she said Tuesday. “For tax cuts. For immigration reform. To make sure we have a good solution for the war in Iraq.”

All that? In a few weeks?

“If there’s a way to do it, I’ll do it,” she said, smiling. “I’ll deal with the leadership to get as much done as possible.”

Sekula-Gibbs (R-Texas) won a race for Congress on Nov. 7. She also lost a race for Congress on Nov. 7. It’s an unusual story:

Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader who was indicted on money-laundering charges, resigned from Congress last spring after winning the Republican primary.

Last week, voters in DeLay’s old district, the 22nd, got to cast two votes for Congress. The Texas voters elected Sekula-Gibbs to fill the remaining portion of DeLay’s term -- but they elected Democrat Nick Lampson to succeed DeLay in the Congress that takes office in January, a race that Sekula-Gibbs had to run as a write-in option.

That makes for a very short congressional career for Sekula-Gibbs, 53, most recently a member of the Houston City Council and a dermatologist -- probably two or three weeks, if you don’t count recesses. But she’ll retain all the perks of ex-membership, such as use of the House gym and access to the House floor.

On Monday evening, just before she took the oath of office, Sekula-Gibbs held her first congressional news conference in her new office, which is DeLay’s old office. She said, “I’m proud that the people of the 22nd Congressional District honored me with their votes.”

Looking around at the office’s nearly bare beige walls, she said, “These are splendid accommodations,” she said, smiling. “All we need are the bare essentials to get things done.”

She’ll scrape by with a small staff -- a few DeLay holdovers, plus a couple of ex-campaign workers. Meanwhile, she’ll spend her tenure living in a hotel. “I have no plans to have a permanent residence here,” she said.

At the end of her first day at the Capitol, Sekula-Gibbs rose to make the first official motion of her congressional career: “Mr. Speaker,” she said, “I move that the House now adjourn.”

The motion carried, and she stepped out into the speaker’s lobby, where reporters were poised to ask her how it felt.

“It was very exciting,” she said.