In 2011, the changing of the guard also means the changing of the Twitter handles.

On Tuesday night Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., changed her Twitter name from "SpeakerPelosi" to simply "NancyPelosi." "2 shorter characters than @SpeakerPelosi RTers rejoice," she tweeted about the change.

Speaker John Boehner also has the Twitter handle SpeakerBoehner. GOPLeader and JohnBoehner still exist on Twitter as well.