Pelosi’s close call
Hangs on in razor-thin House vote
Nancy Pelosi won another term as speaker of the House of Representatives on Sunday, eking out a close vote as the 117th Congress kicked off.
The California Democrat, 80, will hold the position for a second consecutive two-year term and fourth overall, having previously been elected in 2007, 2009 and 2019.
She emerged victorious with 216 votes to the 209 votes of Republican challenger Kevin McCarthy, also of California.
Two votes were cast for other candidates and three lawmakers voted present.
Pelosi had been expected to come out on top, although by a narrow margin reflective of Republican gains in the House in the 2020 election cycle and a Democratic Party increasingly splintered along moderate and far-left lines.
Representatives could cast a vote for anyone — not limited to Pelosi or McCarthy, or even a lawmaker — declare themselves present, or decline to vote at all.
Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden cast his vote for Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a fellow military veteran.
Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.) voted for New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries — who kicked off the vote with an impassioned speech nominating Pelosi.
Three Democrats voted present: New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill, Michigan’s Elissa Slotkin and Virginia’s Abigail Spanberger.
Despite the defections, Pelosi reached the simple majority of all votes cast for named candidates needed to clinch another run as House speaker.
McCarthy did not see any Republican defections.
The representatives voted in small, staggered groups to help facilitate social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic. Lawmakers were required to wear masks and breaks were scheduled in the House proceedings throughout the day to allow for cleanings in the chamber.
Four hundred and thirty of the chamber’s 433 currently elected lawmakers were in attendance Sunday on Capitol Hill.
Two seats remain unoccupied: New York’s 22nd District, where a tight race is still being untangled, and Louisiana’s 5th District, following the coronavirus-related death of Republican Representative-elect Luke Letlow.
A moment of silence was observed in Letlow’s honor on Sunday before Pelosi began swearing in the representatives for the new session.
Meanwhile, in the upper chamber of Congress, Vice President Mike Pence swore in senators-elect in a ceremony also dominated by coronavirus precautions, with elbow-bumps replacing handshakes.
Republicans currently hold a 50-48 edge in the Senate, with two make-or-break run-off races to be held Tuesday in Georgia.
Should the Republicans win one or both of the Georgia seats, they will hold the controlling majority in the Senate.
If both Democratic candidates win out, there will be an even 50-50 split in the Senate — but with Democratic Vice President-elect Kamala Harris holding the authority to break all ties.
What was Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s priority upon her return to the swamp? Making sure no one could be offended by the word “mother” or “son.”
The new rules of the House of Representatives erase all gender references.
That means no “chairman” or “chairwoman” but also no “father,” “daughter,” “grandfather,” etc.
Chances are you’re getting whiplash: Just two months ago, Democrats were celebrating the first woman to be elected vice president. Now they tell us it doesn’t matter. We elected a “they,” just like every other person in Congress and the nation.
“There are millions of Americans suffering, our economy is hurting, vaccine distribution is lagging — and Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats are worried about this nonsense,” Rep.-elect Nicole Malliotakis (R-SI) rightly said. “Here’s a genderneutral word to describe this legislation: ridiculous.”
In some ways, Pelosi & Co. are doing voters a favor ahead of the key Georgia runoffs Tuesday. It shows what’s in store if Republicans don’t keep control of the Senate and provide some sort of check to this inanity.