The answer to the question: Describe how and when Congress convenes, would be as follows.
1. Congress begins a new term every 2 years after elections have been held. In the case of the House, a new wave of representatives takes office, while in the Senate old members are sworn back into their offices and new elected ones swear their new oaths. This meeting day, when the new Congress meets as a whole, and the new term, and its characteristics are established, has been set by the Constitution as the 3rd of January of odd years.
2. Each of the Houses has a different agenda when they first meet, but in general, they present and take the oath for the new members, elect chairmen for each of the committees that will be established on that term, in the case of the House of Representatives the Speaker of the House is established.
3. In the case of the Senate, the Vice President, as head of Congress, will open up the legislative term, then the chaplain will offer a prayer, then everyone recites the Pledge of Allegiance, and then certificates and credentials are accepted.
During this opening session, each of the Houses will establish the time of day during which, throughout the following years, the representatives will meet, as well as the agenda for each of the committees, as well as the times when Congress will meet in full
This is only a brush into the entire proceedings that take place when a new Congress is installed and convenes.
