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Nancy Pelosi elected speaker as Democrats usher in power shift in U.S. House

The new lawmakers arrive at a moment of uncertainty in Washington — two weeks into a partial government shutdown centered on a fight over President Trump’s promised border wall.

Nancy Pelosi of California, surrounded by her grandchildren and other children raises her right hand as Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, the longest-serving member of the House, administers the oath to Pelosi to become the Speaker of the House Thursday.
Nancy Pelosi of California, surrounded by her grandchildren and other children raises her right hand as Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, the longest-serving member of the House, administers the oath to Pelosi to become the Speaker of the House Thursday.Read moreCarolyn Kaster / AP

WASHINGTON — Democrats ushered in sweeping change in the U.S. House on Thursday and promised to challenge President Donald Trump as the party formally assumed the chamber majority and restored Nancy Pelosi to the speaker’s chair.

More than 60 newly elected Democrats took the oath of office, including six from the Philadelphia area who had swept Republicans out of suburban seats and helped transform the political balance in Washington after two years of GOP control.

Through all the shifts, however, Pelosi, of California, again showed her staying power, winning a vote for speaker and becoming the first person since 1955 to regain the position after losing it.

“Our nation is at a historic moment. Two months ago, the American people spoke, and demanded a new dawn,” said Pelosi, the only woman speaker ever. “They called upon the beauty of our Constitution: our system of checks and balances that protects our democracy.”

The day was wreathed with ceremony, optimism, and goodwill — new lawmakers brought their children to the House floor and leaders in both parties extended gracious words — but the backdrop was of division and uncertainty. The new class took office nearly two weeks into a partial government shutdown centered on a fight over Trump’s promised wall along the Southern border, and there was no solution in sight.

Trump, in an appearance at the White House, congratulated Pelosi, but continued pressing for billions of dollars to build the wall to combat illegal immigration.

“I have never had so much support as I have in the last week over my stance for border security, for border control, and for frankly, the wall or the barrier,” Trump said. In a tweet, he accused Democrats of refusing to fund the wall to prevent him from scoring a victory ahead of his 2020 reelection campaign.

Democrats have said the wall would be an ineffective tool, and pressed ahead with bills that would reopen the government, without funding for its construction.

The measures passed the House late Thursday, and mirrored the homeland security funding that cleared the GOP-led Senate in late December, but with Trump opposing them Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) has said the proposals are now a “non-starter" in that chamber.

Pelosi, in her speech, vowed to focus on the concerns of middle-class voters who worry they are being left behind by globalization and technological change. She said Congress must “restore the public’s faith in a better future for themselves and their children." She called for legislation to address government ethics, prescription-drug prices, and climate change, which she described as “the existential threat of our time.”

Democrats may advance statement votes on those issues, but few of their bills have a chance of becoming law with Republicans in firm control of the Senate — extending their slight majority there to 53 — and Trump in the White House.

“There is such excitement and positive energy in the air, and it is a shame that we are meeting this moment of a partial shutdown of our government, but what that tells me is it’s all the more urgent that we get to work,” said new Rep. Madeleine Dean, a Democrat from Montgomery County.

Many of the new Democrats were elected after vowing to put a check on Trump. Longtime Rep. Frank Pallone (D., N.J.) assumed the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of the most powerful in the House, and said his first three hearings would focus on climate change, “sabotage” of the Affordable Care Act, and Trump’s policy of separating migrant children from their families at the border.

Pelosi assumed control over an increasingly diverse Democratic caucus, including four newly elected women from Pennsylvania who joined what was previously an all-male delegation. Overall, the House now includes more than 100 women, including its first two Muslim women and first two Native American women.

Fifteen Democrats declined to support Pelosi for speaker, many of them representing moderate swing districts previously held by Republicans. Among them was Rep. Jeff Van Drew of South Jersey.

He said simply “no” when asked for his vote. (His vote was later changed to “present,” since “no” was not an option.)

All the other Democrats from the Philadelphia region voted for Pelosi for speaker, though Rep. Conor Lamb, of Western Pennsylvania, and Rep. Mikie Sherrill, from North Jersey, cast votes for other Democrats.

Rep. Andy Kim, who narrowly won a seat in South Jersey, called for “new leadership” during his campaign but supported Pelosi on Thursday.

“When I was thinking about what I can do for the promises of the district — supporting the joint base, lowering prescription-drug costs — this is how I thought I could best deal with that vote," Kim said, referring to the McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst military base in his district.

“In Burlington and Ocean Counties, we call that ‘lying,’ ” New Jersey Republican chairman Doug Steinhardt said in a statement.

In contrast to some of the more liberal newcomers who have captured national attention, Van Drew has campaigned as a moderate and said he would attempt to bring a bipartisan approach to Washington.

“That I think is going to be a little harder, and I’m going to work at it, here, than other levels of government,” said Van Drew, who has also served in local and county offices and the state legislature. Nodding to the shutdown, he said, “Here I am talking about all this lofty philosophy and at the same time we have this problem.”

Other Democrats hoped that the change would help break the stalemate.

“Many of the people that were elected on the Democratic side are very moderate. I believe that they are here to make progress,” said new Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a Chester County Democrat.

The new members from the Philadelphia region, all of them Democrats, were elected as part of a political wave that saw Republicans dismissed in suburbs across the country.

Pennsylvania’s 18-member delegation went from 13 Republicans to nine, with just one GOP lawmaker remaining in the Philadelphia suburbs, Bucks County’s Brian Fitzpatrick. In New Jersey, Republicans lost four seats, leaving them with one out of 12.

Fitzpatrick vowed to take a bipartisan approach, and said he would support the Democratic bills to reopen the government. “We need the adults to act like adults and not kids,” he said.

The change has meant a steep drop in seniority for Pennsylvania. After Rep. Mike Doyle, a Democrat in office since 1995, the state’s next most senior House member is Rep. Glenn Thompson, a Republican who took office in 2009. Eight of the 18 Pennsylvanians who took office at the start of the last Congress have since departed, including senior lawmakers such as Bob Brady, Charlie Dent, and Bill Shuster.

The new Democratic majority could quickly be pulled in competing directions. Energetic insurgents on the left have roused the party’s grass-roots voters and pressed for an aggressive liberal agenda. At the same time, the party’s majority was largely built by new members from moderate areas that have historically voted for Republicans.

Those new members — including Houlahan, Van Drew, and Kim — could face political repercussions if they push too far left.

Rep. Susan Wild, who flipped a Republican-held seat in the Lehigh Valley, already has a declared GOP challenger, Dean Browning.

Houlahan downplayed concerns about political friction with other Democrats.

“We’re worried about the same issues — health care, jobs, education — and we just need to find solutions,” she said.

Few of the incoming Democrats, however, showed appetite for giving ground to Trump on the wall. Houlahan and Dean said that they support money for border security, as Democrats have proposed, but that a wall would be ineffective.

“It’s a myth to believe that the government isn’t funding border security," Dean said. "Ironically, with the shutdown we’ve actually harmed those who are securing our borders. We have Coast Guard members not being paid.”

Houlahan called a wall “anachronistic."

While the political battle hung as a backdrop, the day was also marked by pageantry and family.

Dean brought her 7-year-old granddaughter, Aubrey Cunnane, to the House floor and carried a Bible that belonged to her beloved uncle.

Houlahan recalled how her father came to the United States at age 5, as a Polish refugee fleeing the Holocaust with his mother. “And one generation later, I’m standing here serving,” she said.