It's déjà vu as Nancy Pelosi was re-elected Speaker of the House Thursday. The magic number for Pelosi was 218, and she managed to garner 220 votes. She first held the speakership reins from 2007 until 2011. During that time she oversaw some momentous pieces of legislation, most notably President Obama's Affordable Care Act. Remember her infamous mantra that Congress had to "pass it to find out what's in it?"
House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) rose to formally nominate Pelosi for speaker, noting that she's "just getting started."
.@RepJeffries: "It is with great joy that I rise today as directed by the House Democratic Caucus to place the name of Nancy Pelosi in nominations to be the next speaker of the United States House of Representatives." #116thCongress pic.twitter.com/BP4oAY06H5
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 3, 2019
Her win today was not unanimous, but it was more convincing than political analysts thought it would be when the race was first shaping up this fall. In November a group of 16 Democrats released a "Never Pelosi" letter pledging to vote against her come election time. Other progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez openly criticized Pelosi's lackluster leadership on certain liberal issues. Yet, the opposition gradually burned out. Over the past several weeks some of those signatories changed their mind, either because Pelosi promised them that their issues would make her priority list, or they realized that the party needs to seem united.
Ocasio-Cortez stood up and voted for the woman she had protested just weeks earlier.
.@AOC votes for Pelosi, generating cheers from the left and boos from the right pic.twitter.com/mgJ0NB7R1n
— jordan (@JordanUhl) January 3, 2019
Even Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), who challenged Pelosi for the speakership in 2016 and spoke out strongly against her liberal elitism, fell in line this time and endorsed the California representative. Other Democrats who didn't sign the pledge yet said they wanted new leadership while on the campaign trail, like Rep. Andy Kim (NJ), also backtracked when it came time to actually vote.
A few select Democrats did stay true to their word and voted for someone else. See below.
Final anti-Pelosi Dem list:
— Cameron Joseph (@cam_joseph) January 3, 2019
Brindisi (Biden)
Cooper (present)
Crow (Duckworth)
Cunningham (Bustos)
Golden (Bustos)
Kind (Lewis)
Lamb (Kennedy)
McAdams (Murphy)
Rice (Abrams)
Rose (Duckworth)
Schrader (Fudge)
Sherrill (Bustos)
Slotkin (present)
Spanberger (Bustos)
Van Drew (“no")
Pelosi may appease some of the above rebels by agreeing to limit her speakership to four years.
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