Nancy Pelosi again became the most powerful woman in American politics on Thursday, gathering dozens of children around her as she took the oath of office as the next speaker of a diverse and deeply divided U. S. House of Representatives.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Nancy Pelosi again became the most powerful woman in American politics on Thursday, gathering dozens of children around her as she took the oath of office as the next speaker of a diverse and deeply divided U. S. House of Representatives.
Blowing a kiss to senior Republican Representative Don Young after he read out the oath to her, the California Democrat assumed the leadership of the 435-seat chamber at a moment of unique instability and uncertainty.
As the Democratic speaker, Pelosi will oversee a sweeping series of investigations of Republican Donald Trump, his business interests and the first two years of his presidency, while pursuing a distinctly Democratic legislative agenda.
Her first order of business will be to pass legislation on Thursday evening that would reopen the federal government, which is in the midst of a 13-day partial shutdown. The bill was expected to die, however, in the Senate, still controlled by Republicans.
