Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, was again elected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States after the Democrats gained a House majority in the mid-term elections held in November 2018. She won the election with 220 votes while the other candidate, Republican Kevin McCarthy received 192. With this, she is also now the third most powerful person in the United States. She also holds the distinction of being the only woman to hold the post. Remarkably, she had earlier held the post from 2007 to 2011.
Her win came amid a shutdown of the U.S government due to a conflict over President Donald Trump’s decision to create a wall across the U.S border.
This 116th Congress also is the most diverse one ever. It has a record number of women – 102. This includes a record number of women of colour – 43. It also houses the first Muslim congresswomen – Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar.
