Nancy Pelosi said she was “very, very honored” to accept the presidential nomination (File)
Washington, United States:
U.S. Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday chose House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 80, to lead the party in the Joe Biden era and chair their narrow majority in the House as the most powerful person in Congress.
The highest-ranked woman in US Congressional history – and the main enemy of incumbent President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill – ran unopposed for the top job.
She was nominated in a virtual leadership election, the first of its kind as the country grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.
Pelosi said she was “very, very honored” to accept the presidential nomination and pledged to take action to help “crush” the Covid-19 crisis.
What Congress will address next “must be about justice in our economy, it must be justice in our justice system,” she added. “Justice in our environment, environmental justice, justice in our health care.”
A formal vote in the House for the presidency takes place in January after the start of the new session of Congress, and shortly before Biden takes office as the 46th U.S. president. She is generally expected to win.
Pelosi has been leading her caucus since 2003. Two years ago, she agreed to serve in the post until 2022 at most, a move that may have paved the way for her easy re-appointment on Wednesday.
The Democratic House caucus, in a tweet, hailed the appointment of their “fearless leader.”
But tensions simmered. In the Nov. 3 election, Democrats fell short of their stated goal of expanding their 233-202 majority, failing to oust a single outgoing Republican and losing at least 10 seats.
Some closely related races were still numbered, but when the dust settles Pelosi could find that she has led the narrow majority for years.
While there were calls from within the ranks for new blood in the leadership of the ideologically fractured conference, the top three places went to a trio of octogenarians led by Pelosi.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, 81, and House Majority Whip James Clyburn, the top black officer, were also re-elected unopposed to their leadership positions.
The highest contested race was for Deputy Chairman, the party’s number four position, and it features potential members of a new generation of Democratic leaders.
He pits Congresswoman Katherine Clark, 57 and currently vice-chair of the Democratic caucus, against more progressive Democrat David Cicillin, 59, the first openly gay member of the House leadership.
Republicans during the campaign described their Democratic rivals as “radical” leftists who sought to dismantle the police and embrace socialism, a message they repeated on Tuesday after their own House leadership vote re-elected them. leading Republican lawmakers, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
The fight for America’s future is “really a battle between freedom and socialism,” Second Republican Steve Scalise said.
“You have seen voters across the country in all kinds of districts reject the socialist agenda that President Pelosi has been pushing for the past two years.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
