As we wrote earlier today, it was as expected a very tight vote for Speaker of the House.
Controversially, Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) was in attendance at the vote despite announcing that she was positive for the Wuhan coronavirus just Dec. 28.
.@RepGwenMoore will be attendance for speaker vote today, per her office. Moore announced she had tested positive for Covid on Dec. 28. “[Moore] has worked with doctors and is safe to travel,” said an aide.
— John Bresnahan (@bresreports) January 3, 2021
Mooore also announced that she didn’t have a negative test yet but had been cleared to come in by a doctor.
According to CDC guidelines, even if she didn’t have symptoms (and we don’t know that she didn’t) she would still have to wait, assuming she announced shortly after her positive test.
According to CDC guidelines, even if Rep Gwen Moore isn’t having symptoms, she needs to stay home. Playing politics isn’t worth endangering the public. pic.twitter.com/mIoz77NZXX
— Ana Rosa Quintana (@ana_r_quintana) January 3, 2021
But Pelosi clearly needed her there for the vote, it was a tight one. So clearly Pelosi wasn’t concerned about virus spread by having her there. Priorities.
There were two outright defections from Pelosi: Reps. Conor Lamb (D-PA) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) who voted for other candidates. There were also three Democrats who voted present but didn’t vote for Pelosi: Reps. Sherrill (D-NJ), Slotkin (D-MI) and Spanberger (D-VA).
5 total defections from Pelosi now. She can only have 6 and be re-elected as Spkr. Dem NJ Rep Sherrill, Dem MI Rep Slotkin & Dem VA Rep Spanberger all vote present.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 3, 2021
Then there were people who didn’t answer on the first call who appear to have been trying to play with Pelosi, perhaps waiting for an offer behind the scenes: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Cori Bush (D-MO). Ultimately, however, they did vote for Pelosi. Other progressives in the Squad like Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ilhan Omar (D-MN) did vote for Pelosi on the first call. So ultimately, all the members of the Squad ended up voting for Pelosi.
It was so close, they even set up a plexiglass box to enable some folks who had tested positive for the Wuhan virus to vote.
Hse has set up a plexiglass box above the chamber (like something from a hockey rink) for some mbrs to vote, et al. Colleague Caroline McKee rpts Dem OH Rep Tim Ryan just voted for Pelosi from the box
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 3, 2021
Ultimately though, she prevailed.
The final tally for speaker:
Pelosi – 216
McCarthy – 208@SpeakerPelosi is reelected.— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) January 3, 2021
But she didn’t secure enough to win until the seventh and final group of members voted. McCarthy led until the final grouping of members. Ultimately the final vote was 216 to 209, with three “present.”
#Breaking: Nancy Pelosi has secured enough votes to retain speaker’s gavel for the fourth time in what will likely be her final bid for the speakership. While the vote is still open, it currently stands at 216-208, enough for her to win. Five Dems have not voted for her.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 3, 2021
It reveals how weak she is as leader, with both progressives and moderates willing to either defect or taunt her if they don’t get what she wants. She has a bare majority as it is and that may not hold up as she moves forward into controversial decisions.
