PELOSI REELECTED NARROWLY AS U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER

Nancy Pelosi was narrowly reelected Sunday (216-209) as speaker, giving her the reins of Democrats’ slender House majority as she and President-elect Joe Biden set a challenging course of producing legislation to tackle the pandemic, revive the economy and address other party priorities, Alan Fram reported for the Associated Press (AP.)

“We accept a responsibility as daunting and demanding as any that previous generations of leadership have faced,” the California Democrat told the chamber as she accepted a fresh two-year term in her post, perhaps her last.

Citing the 350,000 Americans who’ve died from COVID-19 and the millions who’ve lost jobs and livelihoods, she won a standing ovation when she said, “Our most urgent priority will continue to be defeating the coronavirus. And defeat it, we will.”

Yet even before House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., ceremonially handed her the speaker’s gavel — a normally genial moment — he provided a stark reminder of the partisan divide coloring Congress.

McCarthy accused Pelosi of over the past two years leading “the least productive Congress in nearly 50 years” and said there was a clear message in last November’s elections, when Republicans gained seats by defeating a dozen Democratic incumbents.

“It was a wake-up call,” he said. “The question I ask of this majority: Were you listening?” Those are assertions that Democrats strongly dispute, saying it’s Republicans, especially in the GOP-led Senate, who’ve blocked progress on pandemic aid and other issues.

WEEKLY FEATURE : JOSE MARI CHAN AND THE CHRISTMAS ANTHEM