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WASHINGTON: Nancy Pelosi was narrowly re-elected on Sunday (January 3) as president, giving her the reins of the slim majority of House Democrats, as President-elect Joe Biden sets a challenging path to produce legislation to address the pandemic, revive the economy, and address the priorities of other parties.
The California Democrat, who has led her party in the House since 2003 and is the only woman to be president, was expected to keep her job. Pelosi received 216 votes to 209 for Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who will again be the House Minority Leader.
To earn her victory, Pelosi had to overcome some Democratic complaints about her longevity, a slight 222-211 lead over Republicans after the November election and a handful of absences due to the coronavirus. There were two vacancies in the 435-member House, and whatever happens, Democrats will have the smallest majority in the House in two decades.
The new Congress met on Sunday, just two days after lawmakers ended their previous controversial session and with COVID-19 guidelines requiring testing and face covering for House members.
There was widespread use of masks and far fewer legislators and guests in the chamber than usual, a picture unimaginable when the last Congress began two years ago, before the pandemic hit.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries formally nominated Pelosi for the job, calling her “a notorious negotiator and a legendary legislator for a time like this.”
Jeffries, a member of House leadership who is expected to compete for the speaker’s seat every time Pelosi steps aside, said that as Pelosi prepares to work with Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, “more days lie ahead. bright in the United States of America. This is the day of a great renovation in the House of Representatives. “
To be reelected, Pelosi needed a majority of votes cast for specific candidates and could afford to lose only a handful of Democratic votes. The house rules give you a little leeway because legislators who are absent or who vote “present” are not counted in the total number of voters.
Sunday’s vote was expected to last perhaps three hours, as lawmakers voted in groups of around 72 each to minimize exposure to the virus.
With each vote at a premium, workers had built an enclosure on a balcony overlooking the House of Representatives chamber so that lawmakers exposed to the coronavirus or who tested positive for it could vote with greater confidence. Rep. Tim Ryan voted from there.
Two Democrats who tested positive for the virus last month and say they have recovered voted for Pelosi from the House floor: Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore and Washington State Rep. Rick Larsen.
In a positive sign for Pelosi, newly elected progressive representative Jamaal Bowman voted for her. “Our country needs stability right now, and it’s really important that the Democratic Party come together,” Bowman told a reporter.
Pelosi earned applause from many Democrats for two years leading her opposition to President Donald Trump, largely keeping her party’s moderates and progressives united in their joint goal of defeating him and raising mountains of campaign funds.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California speaks to the media on December 30, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Photo: AP / Jacquelyn Martin)
No Democrat has stepped forward to challenge her, underscoring the perception that it would be nearly impossible to topple her.
But Pelosi is 80 years old, and the younger, more ambitious members remain irritated by the long time she and other older leaders have had in their jobs.
Democrats were also angry and divided after an election day that many expected would mean more House seats for the party, but instead saw a dozen incumbents lose, without defeating a single Republican representative.
Pelosi recently suggested again that these would be her last two years as president, referencing a statement she made two years ago in which she said she would step aside after this term.
The election of the president would take place 17 days before the inauguration of Biden. However, instead of a new beginning for him and Pelosi, there were troubles and undercurrents that will carry over from the stormy Trump administration.
Although Congress enacted, and Trump eventually signed, a $ 900 billion COVID-19 aid package late last month, Biden and many Democrats say they consider that measure a down payment.
They say more help is needed to beef up efforts to vaccinate the public, curb the virus and restore jobs and businesses lost to the pandemic.
Many Democrats, with the unlikely support of Trump, wanted to increase direct payments from $ 600 per person on that bill to $ 2,000, but Republicans blocked them. Democrats want additional money to help state and local governments struggling to maintain services and avoid layoffs.
Biden’s priorities also include efforts in health care and the environment.
Guiding such legislation through the House will be a challenge for Pelosi because the narrow majority of her party means that only a handful of defectors could be fatal.
Additionally, cooperation with Republicans could prove more difficult as many in the Republican Party continue to demonstrate loyalty to the divisive Trump, backing up his unsubstantiated claims that his reelection loss was tainted by fraud.
READ: In Recorded Call, Trump Pressures Georgia Official To Change Election Results – Reports
Congress will meet on Wednesday to officially affirm Biden’s Electoral College’s clear victory over Trump. Many House and Senate Republicans say they will question the validity of some of those votes, but their efforts are sure to fail.
There was no widespread fraud in the election, which has been confirmed by a number of election officials across the country, as well as former Trump attorney general William Barr.
Republican governors in Arizona and Georgia, key battlefield states crucial to Biden’s victory, have also vouched for the integrity of the elections in their states.
Almost every legal challenge from Trump and his allies has been dismissed by justices, including two rejected by the Supreme Court, which includes three Trump-nominated justices.
Meanwhile, it’s unclear which party will control the Senate, which Republicans will keep unless Democrats win the two Senate runoff elections in Georgia on Tuesday.
In the House, a race is still being decided in New York and there is a vacancy in Louisiana after Republican Party Representative-elect Luke Letlow, 41, died after contracting COVID-19.
