Nancy Pelosi has been reelected as speaker of the House. The margin was slim as she received 216 votes to Kevin McCarthy’s 209, who will again be the minority leader.
No Easy Task Ahead
Difficult times may lay ahead for Pelosi as the Democrats hold a small 222-211 majority over the Republicans. With such small margins in a hyper-partisan House only a few Democratic defectors could derail legislation sought by the party at large or the Biden administration.
Indeed there were calls from more progressive supporters for legislators to withhold voting for Pelosi without a promise to bring Medicare For All to a vote. These requests did not materialize however as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez backed Pelosi, citing the importance of unity “when the Republican Party is attempting an electoral coup.”
Gridlock in Washington DC
McCarthy called the seat gains by Republicans in the 2020 election to be a “wake-up call” for Pelosi, claiming she had led “the least productive Congress in nearly 50 years”. Democrats dispute these assertions, blaming Republicans in the GOP-led Senate, for the gridlock.
Last February Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell admitted in a Fox News interview to be sitting on 395 bills passed by the House. He called them “left-wing solutions.” The COVID-19 epidemic has only exasperated the issue as relief bills have been ignored.
Pelosi Accepts the Role
In a speech accepting her new term Pelosi stated, “We accept a responsibility as daunting and demanding as any that previous generations of leadership have faced.” When speaking of COVID-19 and the 350,000 who have died, plus millions more who have lost jobs and savings, she said, “Our most urgent priority will continue to be defeating the coronavirus. And defeat it, we will.”
On January 5th Democrats will find out if they will be able to attain a tie in the Senate as Georgia will have its runoff elections. If so Kamala Harris would be the tie-breaker. There would be no margin for error in such a scenario, however it would give Joe Biden and Pelosi the best chance at passing their legislation through congress. If Republicans hold on there is likely to be two more years of gridlock.
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