House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) urges Senate Leader Mitch McConnell to pass the $ 2,000 incentive vouchers to Americans at her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA December 30, 2020.
Leah Millis | Reuters
The House re-elected Nancy Pelosi as the speaker on Sunday, extending the Democrat’s second stint at the head of the chamber.
Pelosi, the only woman serving as a speaker, will hold the position for a fourth term. The 80-year-old claimed the gavel back in 2019 after eight years of Republican control. California minority leader Kevin McCarthy will lead the GOP for a second term.
Pelosi got 216 votes, while McCarthy got 209. Five Democrats did not support Pelosi. Three voted “present”, one supported Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., and another supported Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.
The California Democrat leads a narrower majority after the GOP flipped at least 10 seats in the 2020 election. Her party came in on Sunday with an estimated 222 members, four more than the 218 needed for a majority in the full house.
Pelosi and President-elect Joe Biden will push in the new Congress to address issues such as coronavirus lighting, healthcare and infrastructure. Tuesday’s last election in Georgia, which will decide whether Republicans hold the Senate, will determine how much the pair can achieve.
Before delivering his remarks to the House on Sunday, Pelosi raised the gavel to the applause of the Democrats. She called ending the coronavirus pandemic “our most pressing priority.”
“And we’ll beat it,” she said.
Pelosi and Biden have said they will push for another round of pandemic relief in the coming weeks. They described the $ 900 billion package signed by law last month as a down payment. Pelosi called for help from the state and local government on Sunday, a provision Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Opposed.
She added that the House should work with Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to “pursue justice – economic justice, health justice, racial justice, environmental and climate justice.”
Pelosi has insisted that the loss of her party’s seat will not diminish her influence or force her to change her strategy. She has said that Biden’s election, which takes office on Jan. 20, will give Democrats more power for the next two years.
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