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The democrat Nancy pelosi was re-elected this Sunday as president of the House of Representatives of the United States with the challenge of reviving the economy and passing measures to face the pandemic with a narrow majority, which had not been seen in that chamber in 20 years.
With 216 votes in favor and 209 against, Pelosi secured enough votes to stay in the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives, for the one that was elected in 2019 and that places who occupies it as third in line of presidential succession, behind the vice president.
Pelosi, who also held this position from 2007 to 2011, remained silent during the voting, sitting in her seat, although she nodded or smiled every time a fellow member of the bench voted for her out loud.
When the official results were read and Pelosi was declared the winner, the House of Representatives broke into applause. The Democrat, dressed in a light suit, thanked the ovation by waving and bumping her elbow with one of the legislators.
Despite the fact that Pelosi faced no opponent, she had to overcome two problems to be re-elected: the possibility that Some Democrats will break ranks and the risk that others would decide not to travel to Washington DC due to the covid-19 pandemic, something that ultimately did not occur.
In the elections of November 3, in which Joe biden was elected president, the Democrats lost ten seats in the House of Representatives and, although they managed to maintain the majority, they were left with the narrowest margin that any party has had in that house in the last 20 years.
Starting this Sunday, Democrats will hold 222 seats in the House of Representatives, while Republicans will have 211.
Because of those numbers, the Democratic leader could only lose a handful of votes if she wanted to stay in office.
Pelosi received overwhelming support from the majority of her party including the progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the rest of the “squad,” nicknames for the four young progressive women who debuted on Capitol Hill two years ago and which this year included African Americans Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman, elected in November.
However, five Democrats broke ranks: Jared Golden and Conor Lamb, who voted for other Democratic lawmakers who had not run for election, and Abigail Spanberger, Elissa Slotkin, and Mikie Sherrill, who simply said “present” during the vote. It doesn’t count as a vote against Pelosi, but it doesn’t favor her either.
The voting began after 12:00 local time and lasted for hours because legislators had to vote in groups of 72 as a preventive measure against the coronavirus.
Pelosi, 80 years old and representative of California, will now have the mission of serving as an anchor for Biden, who will take office on January 20 and will need the Democratic majority of the House of Representatives to revive the battered US economy and face the pandemic.
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