Pelosi offers post-election plan for Dems

WASHINGTON — Projecting confidence about her party’s chances, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi outlined five of the top 10 agenda items Democrats will pursue if they retake the chamber in next month’s election.

Lowering health care costs, rebuilding infrastructure and running the House with more transparency and openness are near the top of the Democratic agenda, Pelosi said during a talk Tuesday at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics.

Democrats would also prioritize giving legal status to young immigrants known as Dreamers and strengthening background checks on gun purchases, she said.

Pelosi said she couldn’t predict whether the election would be a “wave” or “tsunami” for Democrats, but she said she expects the party to triumph, putting her in line to regain the speaker’s gavel. One item not on Pelosi’s top 10 list : impeaching President Donald Trump.

“I think impeachment, to use that word, is very divisive,” she said.

Instead, she said House committees under Democrats would conduct oversight of the administration and help special counsel Robert Mueller conclude his Russia investigation, preserving all the documents from his probe for congressional follow-up.

Looking ahead to a possible lame-duck session after the election, Pelosi indicated Democrats won’t relent in their opposition to funding Trump’s proposed border wall.

“It happens to be like a manhood issue for the president, and I’m not interested in that,” she said.

Pelosi has been the leader of the House Democrats since 2003. But some Democrats running for office this year have called for a new face at the top, echoing the complaints of rankand-file Democratic lawmakers who say generational change is needed.

She brushed off those challenges to her leadership, chalking up the debate to the “vitality of the party.”