Nancy Pelosi has narrowly been re-elected as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives as a new Congress took office.
The House voted 216-209 to reinstate Pelosi even though the Democrats lost 11 seats in the November elections to command a narrower 222-212 majority.
Five Democrats chose not to support her – two voted for Democratic legislators who were not running while three others simply voted “present”.
Ms Pelosi, the only woman to have ever served as speaker, has led the House Democrats for 17 years.
“As we are sworn in today, we accept a 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,” Pelosi said in a floor speech that noted the deaths of more than 350,000 Americans from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“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,” the 80-year-old California Democrat added, pledging that further aid would follow the latest $892bn package that Congress passed in December.
The vote took hours, as legislators were required to vote in groups due to social-distancing rules imposed during the coronavirus pandemic.
There are normally 435 members of the House, but just 427 votes were cast as a few congressmen-elect are in quarantine due to COVID-19 and a tight House race in New York has yet to be formally decided.
Also, one congressman-elect from Louisiana, Luke Letlow, died of complications from COVID-19 last week, days before he was due to be sworn in.
In the Senate, Vice President Mike Pence swore in 32 senators, administering the oath of office in pairs due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“To say the new Congress convenes at a challenging time would be an understatement,” Republican Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell said as the chamber opened.
“From political division to a deadly pandemic to adversaries around the world, the hurdles before us are many and they are serious … But there is also plenty of reason for hope,” the Kentucky Republican added, citing the ongoing roll out of coronavirus vaccine.
“I’d say 2021 looks bright already.”
The official action could be one of the last for Mr McConnell as majority leader, as two runoff elections in January are set to determine which party will control the 100-member chamber.
Republicans currently hold 50 seats and Democrats 48. If Democratic challengers John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock beat Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, Democrats will have 50 seats.
Under the US constitution, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will cast the tie-breaking vote in the chamber once she is sworn in on January 20.
In the meantime, the Democrats are pushing ahead, eager to partner with President-elect Joe Biden on shared priorities, starting with efforts to curb the pandemic and economic crisis. Among other policies, they plan to revisit the failed effort to boost pandemic aid to $2,000 for most people.
“This has been a moment of great challenge in the United States of America filled with trials and tribulations, but help is on the way,” Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the Chairman of the House Democratic caucus, said in an interview.
“America is a resilient nation, filled with resilient people,” he said. “We will continue to rise to the occasion, emerge from this pandemic and continue to march toward our more perfect union.”
