• Latest
  • Trending
Pelosi Unveils 25th Amendment Bid that Can Allow Congress Remove US President

Pelosi, 80, Narrowly Re-elected US Speaker, Faces Difficult Two Years

January 4, 2021
Over 2,000 Detained at Russia Protests Demanding Navalny’s Release

Over 2,000 Detained at Russia Protests Demanding Navalny’s Release

January 23, 2021
Tunisia Extends Curfew, Bans Protests as Virus Cases Jump

Tunisia Extends Curfew, Bans Protests as Virus Cases Jump

January 23, 2021
Nigeria: Sociopolitical Groups Trade Words Over Attack on Fulani in Oyo State

Nigeria: Sociopolitical Groups Trade Words Over Attack on Fulani in Oyo State

January 23, 2021
Celebrities, Newsmakers Pay Tribute to Broadcasting Legend Larry King

Celebrities, Newsmakers Pay Tribute to Broadcasting Legend Larry King

January 23, 2021
Nigeria Police Boss Orders Arrest of Man Who Gave Fulani Ultimatum to Leave Oyo State

Nigeria Police Boss Orders Arrest of Man Who Gave Fulani Ultimatum to Leave Oyo State

January 23, 2021
ARISE NEWSDAY

ARISE NEWSDAY

January 23, 2021
Chelsea, Southampton Draw in Six-goal Thriller

Gabriel Own Goal Hands Southampton Win Over FA Cup Holders Arsenal

January 23, 2021
Veteran Broadcaster Larry King, 87, in Hospital with Covid

Legendary TV Host Larry King Dies at 87

January 23, 2021
Morning Show

Morning Show

January 23, 2021
DJ Khaled to Host MTV Africa Music Awards 2021

DJ Khaled to Host MTV Africa Music Awards 2021

January 23, 2021
China’s Wuhan Marks One Year Since Lockdown as Pandemic Rages Worldwide

China’s Wuhan Marks One Year Since Lockdown as Pandemic Rages Worldwide

January 23, 2021
Russia Arrests Protesters Demanding Kremlin Critic Navalny’s Release

Russia Arrests Protesters Demanding Kremlin Critic Navalny’s Release

January 23, 2021
Thousands of Hong Kong Residents Locked Down to Contain Coronavirus

Thousands of Hong Kong Residents Locked Down to Contain Coronavirus

January 23, 2021
US House Lawmakers Set to Impeach Trump For Historic 2nd Time

Trump Impeachment Trial Delayed Until Early February

January 23, 2021
More Mass Graves Found in City Held by Haftar Forces

More Mass Graves Found in City Held by Haftar Forces

January 23, 2021
French Arms Firm ‘Must Face SA Corruption Trial’

French Arms Firm ‘Must Face SA Corruption Trial’

January 23, 2021
Covid-19 Vaccines for Africa ‘Might Not Be Available Until Second Quarter of 2021’

Mali to Start Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout in April

January 23, 2021
Mozambique Flights Cancelled as Storm Eloise Nears

Mozambique Flights Cancelled as Storm Eloise Nears

January 23, 2021
ARISE XCHANGE

ARISE XCHANGE

January 22, 2021
Ethiopia Drops Gun Charges Against Media Mogul Jawar Mohammed

Ethiopia Drops Gun Charges Against Media Mogul Jawar Mohammed

January 22, 2021
Court Orders Nigerian Senator Be Remanded Over Former Pension Boss Disappearance

Nigeria’s Supreme Court Dismisses Appeal By Abacha’s Family to Access Frozen Foreign Accounts

January 22, 2021
Trump’s Trial for ‘Inciting Insurrection’ to Start Monday

Trump’s Trial for ‘Inciting Insurrection’ to Start Monday

January 22, 2021
Russia Welcomes US Proposal to Extend Nuclear Treaty

Russia Welcomes US Proposal to Extend Nuclear Treaty

January 22, 2021
Twin Suicide Bombings Kill At Least 23 in Iraqi Capital Baghdad

Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Twin Suicide Blasts in Baghdad

January 22, 2021
Japan Vaccination Uncertainty Casts Doubts Over Olympics    

Japan Vaccination Uncertainty Casts Doubts Over Olympics  

January 22, 2021
Comedian Dave Chappelle Tests Positive for Covid-19, Shows Canceled

Comedian Dave Chappelle Tests Positive for Covid-19, Shows Canceled

January 22, 2021
Germany’s Covid-19 Death Toll Tops 50,000

Germany’s Covid-19 Death Toll Tops 50,000

January 22, 2021
UN Expresses Concern Over ‘Disturbing Rape Reports in Tigray’

UN Expresses Concern Over ‘Disturbing Rape Reports in Tigray’

January 22, 2021

Nigeria Can Defeat Kidnappings Within Three Months Using Drones, Says Surveillance Expert

January 22, 2021

Nigeria: Former Electoral Commission Boss Jega Calls for Scrap of ‘Unnecessary’ Federal Ministries

January 22, 2021
en English
ar Arabiczh-CN Chinese (Simplified)nl Dutchen Englishfr Frenchde Germanit Italianpt Portugueseru Russianes Spanish
No Result
View All Result
Sunday, January 24, 2021
Arise News
  • HOME
  • Breaking
  • Global
  • Regional
  • US ELECTION
  • BUSINESS
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • TECH
  • Health
  • VIDEOS
  • Covid-19 Updates
Arise News
  • HOME
  • Breaking
  • Global
  • Regional
  • US ELECTION
  • BUSINESS
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • TECH
  • Health
  • VIDEOS
  • Covid-19 Updates
No Result
View All Result
Arise News
No Result
View All Result
Home Breaking

Pelosi, 80, Narrowly Re-elected US Speaker, Faces Difficult Two Years

January 4, 2021
Reading Time: 7min
0 0
0
Pelosi Unveils 25th Amendment Bid that Can Allow Congress Remove US President
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Eighty-year-old Nancy Pelosi was narrowly re-elected on Sunday as speaker of the US House of Representatives, giving her the reins of Democrats’ slender House majority as she and President-elect Joe Biden set a challenging course of producing legislation to tackle the pandemic, revive the economy and address other party priorities.

“We accept a responsibility as daunting and demanding as any that previous generations of leadership have faced,” the California Democrat told the chamber as she accepted a fresh two-year term in her post, perhaps her last.

Citing the 350,000 Americans who’ve died from Covid-19 and the millions who’ve lost jobs and livelihoods, she won a standing ovation when she said, “Our most urgent priority will continue to be defeating the coronavirus. And defeat it, we will.”

Yet even before House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., ceremonially handed her the speaker’s gavel — a normally genial moment — he provided a stark reminder of the partisan divide colouring Congress.

McCarthy accused Pelosi of over the past two years leading “the least productive Congress in nearly 50 years” and said there was a clear message in last November’s elections, when Republicans gained seats by defeating a dozen Democratic incumbents. “It was a wake-up call,” he said. “The question I ask of this majority: were you listening?”

Those are assertions that Democrats strongly dispute, saying it’s Republicans, especially in the GOP-led Senate, who’ve blocked progress on pandemic aid and other issues.

Pelosi, who has led her party in the House since 2003 and is the only woman to be speaker, received 216 votes to 209 for McCarthy, who again will be the chamber’s minority leader.

It was the first vote of the new Congress, which convened Sunday with Covid-19 guidelines requiring testing and face coverings for lawmakers. There was widespread mask-wearing and far fewer legislators and guests in the chamber than usual, an unimaginable tableau when the last Congress commenced two years ago, before the pandemic struck.

Pelosi’s election came 17 days before Biden is inaugurated. Yet rather than a fresh start for him and Pelosi, there are issues and undercurrents that will carry over from President Donald Trump’s tempestuous administration.

Though Congress enacted — and Trump finally signed — a $900 billion Covid-19 relief package late last month, Biden and many Democrats say they consider that measure a down payment. They say more aid is needed to bolster efforts to vaccinate the public, curb the virus and restore jobs and businesses lost to the pandemic.

Biden’s priorities also include efforts on health care and the environment.

Guiding such legislation through the House will be a challenge for Pelosi because her party’s narrow majority means just a handful of defectors could be fatal.

In addition, cooperation with Republicans could be made more difficult as many in the GOP are continuing to demonstrate fealty to the divisive Trump, backing his unfounded claims that his re-election loss was tainted by fraud.

Congress will meet Wednesday to officially affirm Biden’s clear Electoral College victory over Trump. Many House and Senate Republicans say they will contest the validity of some of those votes, but their efforts are certain to fail.

There was no widespread fraud in the election, which a range of election officials across the country including Trump’s former attorney general, William Barr, have confirmed. Republican governors in Arizona and Georgia, key battleground states crucial to Biden’s victory, have also vouched for the integrity of the elections in their states. Nearly all the legal challenges from Trump and his allies have been dismissed by judges, including two tossed by the Supreme Court, which includes three Trump-nominated justices.

In another hurdle for Democrats, it’s not clear which party will control the Senate. Republicans will control it unless Democrats win both Senate runoff elections in Georgia on Tuesday.

To win, Pelosi had to overcome some Democratic grumbling about her longevity, a slim 222-211 edge over Republicans after November’s elections and a handful of absences because of the coronavirus. There were two vacancies in the 435-member House, and whatever happens Democrats will have the smallest House majority in two decades.

With little margin for error, Pelosi suffered only a handful of Democratic defections in her latest display of her ability to line up support, and no opponent challenged her for the job. She has won plaudits from Democrats for leading their opposition to President Donald Trump, largely keeping her party’s moderates and progressives united and raising mountains of campaign funds.

“She’s had one finger in the dike and one finger in the eye of Donald Trump,” said Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va.

But she’s 80 years old, and ambitious younger members continue chafing at the long-time hold she and other older top leaders have had on their jobs. Democrats were also angry after an Election Day that many expected would mean added House seats for the party but instead saw a dozen incumbents lose, without defeating a single GOP representative.

In the end, Rep. Jared Golden, D-Me., voted for Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth — the Constitution doesn’t require the speaker to be a House member. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa., voted for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who is seen as a strong contender to succeed Pelosi whenever she steps down.

Three Democrats who opposed Pelosi’s election as speaker two years ago voted present on Sunday — Reps. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, and five others who opposed her in 2019 back her this time. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., who has been battling cancer, missed the vote.

Democrats gave Pelosi a standing ovation as the final tally was announced, while the Republican side of the chamber was nearly empty. The vote took over two-and-a-half hours, an unusually long time as lawmakers were divided into groups to reduce health risks.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a progressive leader, backed Pelosi and told reporters that Democratic unity was important “at a time when the Republican Party is attempting an electoral coup.” She referred to the support many congressional Republicans are giving outgoing President Donald Trump’s baseless effort to reverse the election results.

Ocasio-Cortez said she and other progressives “have been in conversations and negotiations” with Pelosi, but did not describe what they accomplished.

With every vote at a premium, workers had constructed an enclosure in a balcony overlooking the House chamber so lawmakers exposed to or testing positive for the coronavirus could more safely vote.

In the House, one race in New York is still being decided and there is a vacancy in Louisiana after GOP Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, 41, died after contracting COVID-19.

AP

Tags: Nancy PelosUS Speaker
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2020 Arise News - Part of the Arise Media Group.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • Breaking
  • Global
  • Regional
  • US ELECTION
  • BUSINESS
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • TECH
  • Health
  • VIDEOS
  • Covid-19 Updates

© 2020 Arise News - Part of the Arise Media Group.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist