Rashida Tlaib becomes first Muslim woman to preside over House floor

Her turn on Wednesday leading the proceedings of the House of Representatives came months after she, along with Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, became the first Muslim women to join the US Congress.

Tlaib told CNN ahead of the moment that her family would be tuning into C-SPAN to watch from home.

"I'm excited, my family's excited," Tlaib said.

Proceedings on the House floor are led by the speaker of the House or people presiding in her sted from the speaker's party. House freshmen, like Tlaib, have been worked slowly into the rotation recently of learning how to preside over the floor.

Last Friday, Tlaib's fellow freshman Democrat, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, presided for the first time, becoming the youngest woman ever to do so.

"Today I presided over the House floor for the first time. Every day here is a sacred privilege + responsibility entrusted to me by my community. I never forget that, and moments like these drive it home. Thank you to the people of NY14 + beyond. This House belongs to all of us," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted after she was through.

Iowa Democratic Rep. Abby Finkenauer also presided over the House for her first time last week, and afterward, she tweeted that when she texted her parents about watching, she found out they record C-SPAN "all day, every single day we are in session."

"Today, I learned that my parents record CSPAN, all day, every single day we are in session. So, that's adorable," Finkenauer tweeted.

Tlaib has made waves since joining Congress, attracting attention for her efforts to impeach President Donald Trump and recently finding herself under fire from top Republicans and Israel's ambassador to the United Nations for comments about Israel and the Holocaust that she and top Democrats said were misconstrued for political ends.

"Policing my words, twisting & turning them to ignite vile attacks on me will not work. All of you who are trying to silence me will fail miserably. I will never allow you to take my words out of context to push your racist and hateful agenda. The truth will always win," Tlaib said in response to the backlash.