WASHINGTON — The witness rose from her seat, raised her right hand and swore to tell the truth before Congress.

But four words were missing: “So help me God.”

In the House of Representatives, to the winner go the spoils, and Democrats, the new decision makers, control everything, including what legislation gets a vote and the minutiae of procedural choices, such as whether witnesses must utter the traditional plea for divine aid. Democratic chairmen and chairwomen of several key committees have deemed no such entreaty is necessary.

“I think God belongs in religious institutions: in temple, in church, in cathedral, in mosque — but not in Congress,” said Representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. What Republicans are doing, he continued, “is using God.”

“And God doesn’t want to be used,” he said.

No surprise, Republican lawmakers are staging a form of protest, jumping in when they can to point out each omission in real time.