Nancy Pelosi Re-Elected as Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi has been re-elected as Speaker of the House, making her the leader of the House’s slim Democratic majority for a fourth term.
Pelosi won re-election by a narrow vote of 216 to 209 against House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). Though Pelosi gained support from the majority of her party, two Democrats opted to vote for other candidates.
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Pelosi has indicated previously that this is likely to be her final term as Speaker of the House, as she faces pressure from younger Democrats to set a path for stepping down from her position. As Speaker during the upcoming presidential transition, Pelosi will be looking to champion as much of President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda as possible through Congress, but she faces a tough path ahead with the Democratic party in control of just 222 of 435 seats.
Sunday marked the first meeting and swearing-in of the 117th Congress. The rising cases of COVID-19 across the country made it so several members missed the session, and those in attendance cast their votes from behind plexiglass. Georgia’s runoff elections on Tuesday will determine which party has control of Congress heading into 2021, as if the Democrats win both elections, they will have the majority.
In an interview with Variety in March, Pelosi was optimistic about the future of the United States with a new leader in the White House.
“The greatness of America is such that we will withstand what [Trump] has done and move on from that. I feel confident about our ability to do that,” Pelosi said.
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