The past seven speakers of the House have either lost their majority, been forced out by their own colleagues, or stepped down amid personal issues. However, Nancy Pelosi, now has a second chance to rewrite her legacy. On Thursday, the 116th Congress began and 78-year-old Pelosi became Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives once again, returning to the speaker’s chair after losing it in 2011. While Pelosi easily won the speakership, 15 Democrats refused to vote for Pelosi.
Her return is something of a replay of an iconic moment from her January 2007 swearing-in ceremony as the first female speaker in history. Pelosi becomes the oldest person every elected speaker and the oldest to hold the post, a testament to her staying power and the fact that her return engagement to the speakership will be limited.
Unlike her original go-round as speaker from 2007 to 2011, when the California Democrat was at her most powerful, Pelosi will face a whole new set of political challenges during the 116th Congress, including an ongoing partial government shutdown, a rising socialist presence attempting to drag her further to the left, and Republican control of both the Senate and the White House.
Speaker Pelosi described her party’s majority yesterday in the House of Representatives as a part of a “new dawn,” and did not back down from a liberal policy push, outlining an agenda that includes expanded gun background checks, calling climate change “the existential threat of our time,” and promising legislation to end anti-LGBTQ discrimination as well as protections for some illegal immigrants, and a check on President Trump’s administrative power.
In her remarks, Pelosi promised to work toward “building an economy that gives all Americans the tools they need to succeed in the 21st Century, public education, workforce development, good-paying jobs and secure pensions.”
But Pelosi faces new challenges including an unpredictable President Trump, a determined and experienced foe in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and self-imposed term limits on her speakership of four years, as well as a fractious caucus full of progressives who want to move an ambitious agenda.
Pelosi will not have much breathing room as she takes over the House. On the partial shutdown of the government, Pelosi is planning to move legislation imminently that would fund the government but not President Trump’s border wall. Trump has demanded $5 billion for a wall on the southern border, a request Democrats have denied, triggering the partial shutdown. The partial government shutdown caused by the bitter struggle over the President’s border wall is now entering its 13th day, leaving 800,000 federal workers without pay.
In a bid to end the stalemate, Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are offering Trump, McConnell, and GOP leaders a two-part plan to fund all federal agencies except the Homeland Security Department through September 30. DHS would get a short-term funding bill through February 8. President Trump has already said no to the Democratic plan, despite the fact that these are Republican-drafted spending bills.
