Nancy Pelosi Elected Speaker as Democrats Take Control of House

Source: The New York Times



By Julie Hirschfeld Davis
Jan. 3, 2019

WASHINGTON — On a day of pomp and pageantry, ebullient Democrats assumed control of the House on Thursday and elected Representative Nancy Pelosi of California to be speaker, returning her to a historic distinction as the first woman to hold the post at the pinnacle of power in Congress, second in line to the presidency.

The investiture of Ms. Pelosi, whose talent for legislative maneuvering is surpassed only by her skill at keeping her fractious party in line, placed her at the fulcrum of divided government opposite an increasingly combative President Trump. With Mr. Trump, his presidential campaign and his businesses all under federal and state investigations, her handling of him will likely define the 116th Congress.

Her election came on Day 13 of a government shutdown that has dramatized the shifting dynamics in Washington. Mr. Trump’s insistence on a wall on the Mexican border has come to embody harsh immigration policies that will run headlong into newly energized Democratic opposition.

But on Thursday, if only for a few hours, the dark clouds of divisive politics parted long enough for a peaceful transition of power from Republicans to Democrats, as a majority lawmakers rose in turn from their seats on the House floor to utter Ms. Pelosi’s name and formally award her the gavel she relinquished in 2011 after a Tea Party wave swept Republicans to power.


Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/03/us/politics/nancy-pelosi-speaker-116th-congress.html