Nancy Pelosi has been re-elected as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives as the 117th Congress took office on recently.
After 17 years in charge of the House Democrats, Pelosi contested unopposed in her election and won the election with 216 votes to nail a fourth term as the leader of the House.
She is the first woman to emerge speaker. She first led the House between 2006 to 2011, and has been leading since the Democrats took over the House in 2018.
The 80-year-old politician is the third speaker to win with less than 218 votes in the last 25 years, after former Republican Speakers Newt Gingrich and Paul Ryan.
In a letter to her Democratic caucus after her triumph, she wrote: “I am enormously grateful for the trust that Members have placed in me, I am confident that the Speaker’s election today will show a united Democratic Caucus ready to meet the challenges ahead.
“As we are sworn in today, we accept responsibility as daunting and demanding as any that previous generations of leadership have faced. We begin the new Congress during a time of extraordinary difficulty.
“Now is a time for our nation to heal. Our most urgent priority will continue to be defeating the coronavirus. And defeat it, we will.”
