JIn the recently concluded midterm elections, Democrats cruised to victory in the dozens of House races across the United States that were needed to give them control of the lower Congressional chamber. Now, as their official takeover gets closer, a major order of business remains on the table — putting the House Speaker in place.
This Wednesday, at a closed door meeting, the Democratic Caucus formally nominated Pelosi as their candidate for speaker. Come January, she’ll need a majority of the votes of the full House to formally assume the position, which wouldn’t be a problem if not for the dozens of Democratic Congresspeople who voted no on her nomination this Wednesday.
She faced 32 no votes, and she can barely afford to lose half that amount of support if she hopes to obtain victory come January — although it’s hardly a given that many of those who opposed her now will continue that protest.
Reporter Rachel Bade noted:
‘She lost 63 votes to Rep. Tim Ryan in caucus last [session] — and only FOUR on the floor after that.’
In the meantime, it’s been reported that party leadership including Pelosi have proven themselves open to discussion and even protests of her continued leadership. In this week’s vote, for instance, they broke with precedent to allow members paper ballots that gave them the option of formally recording a “no” vote. Come January, those Congresspeople who voted no this time around could simply vote “present” and effectively remove themselves from the proceedings and thereby lessen the number of votes Pelosi even needs.
Prior to this week’s vote, Pelosi is reported to have met with dissident lawmakers including Reps. Kathleen Rice (N.Y.) and Seth Moulton (Mass.) to hear out their concerns. Moulton claims that no agreement on a path forward was reached, but he did express an openness to further negotiation.
Pelosi has already garnered the support of a who’s who of big names in the party, including Reps. Adam Schiff (Calif.) and John Lewis (Ga.) — both of whom spoke to fellow Democrats on her behalf Wednesday — and Reps.-elect including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the democratic socialist upstart who unseated Joe Crowley in New York. She’s also attracted the support of some like New York’s Brian Higgins, who’d previously opposed her bid for continued leadership.
She has also attracted the seemingly sarcastic support of President Donald Trump himself, who after months of making association with Pelosi a key attack line against the GOP’s opponents ranted:
‘I can get Nancy Pelosi as many votes as she wants in order for her to be Speaker of the House. She deserves this victory, she has earned it – but there are those in her party who are trying to take it away. She will win!’
Trump is facing the very credible prospect of heightened oversight and where relevant, investigation of his administration when Democrats assume their newly powerful position in January. Pelosi has personally asserted at one point that one of the first things the Democratic House majority would do is obtain the personal tax returns the president has sought to keep hidden for so long.
Featured Image via YouTube screenshot
