J B Biden, Nancy Pelosi bids in Fractious Democrats to draw a picture on their history

Mr Biden and Mrs Pelosi, who both hope to start by taking additional steps to tackle the coronavirus epidemic, have raised objections such as expanding the government’s health insurance, climate change and how much it will cost to fight the war. . Justice policy.

The pair must also work with New York Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to win enough Republicans to clear the chamber’s 60-vote threshold for most bills. Senate control – which can determine most of the successes or failures in the Democratic agenda – depends on the January 2 result. 5 Run of Race in Georgia.

The last time a Democrat came to the presidency was when the party had a comfortable majority in the House and briefly held a Senate supermarket. This time, since two House races have not been called, Democrats have slightly more seats than the 218 needed for a House majority. Mr. Biden has tapped three MLAs in the House to serve in his administration, which will temporarily shrink the majority further.

Mrs. Pelosi will need to hold most of her cc on Sunday as she seeks full House approval for her second term as speaker. She faced no opposition in her party to become their leader in the November vote.

She said it would be easier for her members to unite behind the White House’s common agenda with Democrats – while the legislation they passed from President Trump’s presidency would be more likely to become law.

“This is exactly the same thing,” Ms. Pelosi said in an interview, adding that about 100 House Democratic legislators have never served with her party president.

Mr Biden, through a spokesman, declined to be interviewed. Biden’s spokesman T.J. “The respect and admiration of President-elect Speaker Pelosi dates back many decades,” Daclo said. “Their strong friendship is at the root of their dedicated dedication to public service and to their families and their faith.”

Mr. Biden, 78 years old, and Mrs. Pelosi, 0, knew each other well before taking the top two jobs in American politics. Mrs. Pelosi recalls that by Mr. Biden in Rehoboth Beach, Del., In the late 1980s, when he was a new member of Congress.

She knew the then senator of Delaware through party politics, and at the gathering he introduced her to his friends. The only problem: many heard her first name and confused her for professional golfer Nancy Lopez.

“I did not want to disappoint them; I laughed, ”the speaker laughed.

Over the years, the two established a friendship in which they identified each other by their first names, a rarity for Mrs. Pelosi. Both are Roman Catholics and cite their faith as the inspiration for their service. Mrs. Pelosi said the two keep simple rosaries in their pockets. The two traveled to Rome for the 2013 inauguration of Pope Francis.

Mr. Biden, then a senator, championed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, and Mrs. Pelosi helped split the vote in the House. Later, Mrs. Pelosi oversaw foreign spending on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, while Mr. Biden chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the two traveled to Europe in 1997 with then-President Bill Clinton.

In the Obama administration, Mr. Biden was frequently sent by the White House to talk through deals, including the Speaker Toe Industry Bailout and the Affordable Care Act, said Mrs. John Lawrence, then chief of Mr. Pelosi.

“She felt like when she was talking to Biden, she was talking to a peer and someone who understands the Congress party of White House-Congress relations better than anyone else in the White House.”

Mrs. Pelosi often criticized Mr. Biden, especially around his dealings with sexual harassment.

During the 1991 confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Mrs. Pelosi and other women legislators requested Senate leadership, including Mr. Biden, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, to reconsider Justice Thomas’ nomination in the light of sexual harassment. Allegations made by Anita Hill.

In April 2019, Ms Pelosi said allegations of improper touching on Mr Biden did not disqualify her from the presidency, but she needed to be more careful.

Former Nevada Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Mr. Biden approaches casual conversation and is never in a hurry to make a deal. Mrs Pelosi is a formal informant and works on a timeline, he said. But the pair trust each other, he said.

Rohit Kumar, the former deputy chief of staff of majority leader Mitch McConnell (R.Q.), said the two Democrats knew how to negotiate a bipartisan deal but Mr Biden could be more inclined to do so.

“Biden is more moderate than Pelosi,” said Mr Kumar, who is now co-leader of PWC’s national tax office fees. “She’s willing to cut deals that she wouldn’t be willing to do.”

Mr Kumar said Ms Pelosi spoke at length during a 2012 meeting of a group on tax hikes and cost reductions known as “financial rocks” to oppose attempts to weaken the estate tax.

Forty hours later, Mr. Kumar said, Mr. Biden agreed to set the estate-tax parameters at the level of raising less money than the Democrats wanted, although he did not accept the Republican’s call for tax repeal. Since then, Democrats have made unsuccessful attempts to raise estate-tax rates and reduce exemptions.

Mrs. Pelosi is known as a skilled vote-counter who finds common ground among her members and keeps her party together on strict votes. Mr. Biden built his legislative career by forging ties with Republicans and continued to reach out to him as vice president until he was harassed by some Democrats.

Some Democrats say their leaders are too quick to make deals with Republicans. In late December, the leadership of both parties negotiated a coronavirus-relief package, Rip. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., NY) tweeted: “One of the big differences between GOPs and dams is that GOPs take their true chance and get excited about getting policy exemptions. When Dimes locks his left arm in the basement BC, he thinks Republicans will be nice to him. “

An intra-party fight over expanding access to health care could erupt, which Ms. Pelosi says is one of her main goals. Progressives want to expand Medicare to all Americans. Mr Biden and Mrs Pelosi have proposed creating a public option to compete against private insurers instead.

The first challenge of both will be the coronavirus epidemic that has killed more than 342,000 Americans, shut down businesses and slowed economic growth. Mr. Biden has also said that he is a U.S. citizen. It hopes to provide citizenship for 11 million immigrants without permanent legal status and adopt policies that take into account climate change.

“I have no doubt he’ll be in the room all the time,” said Phil Schiller, a White House liaison with Congress under Mr. Obama, about Mrs. Pelosi. “There will not be an important conversation that will not include her elected by the president.”

Former Sen. Ted Kaufman (D. Del.), A longtime aide to Mr. Biden, who is running his presidential transition, said Democrats have always had a lot of ideological ideas and Mr. Biden united the party behind him in the November election. .

“Democrats aren’t like Republicans, they don’t march in lockstep, and Nancy has always managed to keep the coalition together in the House,” Mr. Kaufman said. “It was the same coalition that helped select the president.”

Richard Rubin contributed to this article.

Write to Natalie Andrews at [email protected] and Eliza Collins at [email protected].