Washington’s new era of divided government begins
Thursday as Democrats seize control of the US House, aiming to serve as a
check on Donald Trump’s disruptive presidency at least until the 2020
election.
(C) is poised to wield the gavel once again as speaker of the US House
of Representatives when Democrats regain control of the chamber on
January 3, 2019
Battle-tested Nancy Pelosi will in
all likelihood win the gavel as speaker of the House of Representatives,
a dramatic return to national power for the California Democrat who
made history a dozen years earlier as the first woman to lead the
chamber.
She will take command during a period of
American political upheaval, and with a caucus riding high after a very
strong midterm election showing last November.
Thursday
brings an end to Trump’s one-party rule in Washington, a massive boost
for Democrats who felt deflated after Trump’s 2016 victory.
Progressives will be eager to push back with
greater effect against an administration they believe has overstepped
its authority and abused power in the nearly two years since Trump’s
inauguration.
They will have that opportunity, as
congressional panels will be led by chairmen who have pledged to probe
topics such as Trump’s income taxes, his firing of attorney general Jeff
Sessions, and the president’s ties to Vladimir Putin.
Incoming chairpersons have signaled that Trump
will face a barrage of probes that could bog down a White House already
besieged by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia collusion probe,
draining energy from the administration’s agenda and foiling Trump’s
message.
“It’s on,” Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, a new
member of House leadership who is seen by some as a potential future
House speaker, tweeted Wednesday.
“Tomorrow, we seize the majority. Then, we
pass legislation to end reckless #TrumpShutdown,” he added. “Next, we
fight to lower healthcare costs and enact a progressive agenda.”
While the “blue wave” swept dozens of House
Republicans out of Congress last November, Trump’s party managed to
modestly expand its majority in the Senate to 57-43, meaning Washington
gridlock is almost certain to deepen.
Not ‘stirring the pot’
Among the first tasks of the 116th Congress
will be ending a nearly two-week government shutdown that has left one
quarter of federal agencies shuttered due to lapsed funding.
Trump has said he would not sign a spending
bill that does not include $5.6 billion for construction of a wall on
the US-Mexico border, but Democrats appear uninterested in appeasing
him.
Pelosi has introduced new measures that would
fund the agencies, but she noted that they “contain no new wall
funding,” a move the White House — and leaders in the
Republican-controlled Senate — dismissed as a non-starter.
“Democrats will have to get serious about
border security so that a government funding agreement may be reached
that can pass the House, earn 60 votes here in the Senate, and receive a
presidential signature,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in
a statement.
“All three of these things are needed. One partisan vote in the House tomorrow won’t solve anything.”
The House and Senate gavel into session
Thursday at noon (1700 GMT), with the new Congress sworn in shortly
thereafter. Pelosi is expected to win her speaker election in the early
afternoon.
She will preside over the most diverse
Congress in history. One hundred House freshmen will take the oath of
office, including trailblazers like New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
who at 29 was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
The first two Native American women and first two Muslim women were also elected.
The House and Senate will each have a record number of female members come Thursday.
Democrats will move early to protect coverage
for people with pre-existing conditions, a popular feature of the
Affordable Care Act that a judge in Texas recently struck down.
House Democrats are thumbing their nose at
Trump by establishing a special committee on climate so the government
can better respond to the urgency of global warming.
Hovering in the background in Washington will
be the threat of impeachment, and it is almost certain that some
Democrats will introduce proceedings to remove Trump from office.
Even if Democrats believe some of Trump’s
actions clear the threshold of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” Pelosi
has downplayed the prospects of impeachment.
“It would be very divisive,” she told Elle magazine. “It’s not something that I’m stirring the pot on.”