Greg Gianforte sworn in as Montana's congressman

WASHINGTON – Greg Gianforte, the software engineer and multimillionaire perhaps best known nationally for body slamming a reporter on Election Night, was sworn in as Montana’s lone member of Congress Wednesday.

Before the official swearing in, Gianforte participated in a ceremonial swearing in off the House floor with House Speaker Paul Ryan, his wife, Susan, and two of their four children, as well as his immediate predecessor, now Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Former Montana Congressmen Denny Rehberg and Sen. Steve Daines were also on hand.

Before Ryan arrived, Gianforte remarked on Washington’s humidity and introduced members of his family. Asked how he felt the day after Georgia gave Republicans a fourth special election victory, Gianforte said he was proud to have done his part in Montana, where he beat Democrat Rob Quist May 25.

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But after the quick ceremonial affair with Ryan with five American flags as backdrop in a room with bookshelves filled with journals of past Congresses dating back to at least 1801, Gianforte had to wait 40 minutes just off the Speaker’s Lobby to take his seat. The House first had to vote on a procedural motion involving Democratic members’ attempts to compel President Donald Trump to release 12,000 pages of his tax returns. The effort failed.

Gianforte, 56, received applause and a standing ovation from most of his House colleagues and was given the unusual honor of addressing the House immediately after joining it.

He said he and his wife of 29 years had raised four children “hunting, fishing and hiking in the great public lands of Montana,” then set a tone for how he approaches his new responsibilities.

“I’m trained to solve hard problems, not to argue about them,” he said. Then he pledged to support a balanced budget, term limits and a ban on lobbying by former members of Congress, which drew some boo-like utterances from at least one member.

In the official record of the day’s proceedings, no mention was made of the May 25 incident in which Gianforte body slammed Guardian newspaper reporter Ben Jacobs or the congressman-elect’s June 12 guilty plea to misdemeanor assault with its sentence of 40 hours of community service.

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Jacobs released a statement Wednesday saying he is “confident” Gianforte “will live up to his pledge to champion a free press and the First Amendment,” adding he looks forward to taking him up on his offer of an interview “in the coming days.”

Partisans from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee gave the newest member of Congress their welcome to the nation’s capital with a tongue-in-cheek listing of what he may not legally pursue now that he entered his guilty plea, including possible ineligibility to drive a school bus.