Pelosi Retakes Gavel As House Speaker With New Session Of Congress

Nancy Pelosi is again speaker of the House, as Democrats retook control of the chamber for the first time in eight years, bringing divided government back to Washington.

The first woman to hold the position, Pelosi is now the first person to reclaim the speaker's gavel in more than six decades.

The California Democrat was elected with 220 votes over California Republican Kevin McCarthy, the new minority leader.

After accepting the speaker's gavel from McCarthy, Pelosi said the nation is at "an historic moment." And while not mentioning President Trump by name, Pelosi said voters spoke last November, calling on "the beauty of our Constitution, our system of checks and balances that protects our democracy."

Pelosi said she was "particularly proud" to return as speaker now, in the 100th year of women having the right to vote, presiding over more than 100 women in Congress, the highest number in history.

With the start of the new Congress, nearly 100 newly elected lawmakers are coming to the House and Senate — including those representing the 40 seats the Democrats picked up to sweep their party back into power in the House.

They will be led by Pelosi, who, with Thursday's vote, returns to the job of speaker after eight years leading Democrats in the minority. Pelosi made the history books in 2007 when she became the first woman elected speaker, and on Thursday, she became the first person to return to that job since Sam Rayburn in 1955. - Read More

Pelosi Retakes Gavel As House Speaker With New Session Of Congress

The New Congress Has A Record Number Of Women — But Very Few Republican Women