As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi waged her high-profile shutdown standoff with President Trump, she was working behind the scenes on an even more delicate task — keeping her big, restless and inexperienced caucus on the same page. During her first month leading the new Democratic majority, Pelosi (D-Calif.) has doled out a record number of subcommittee gavels to new members, while encouraging others to take leading roles on the political front lines. If anything, a larger group of moderate Democrats who unseated Republicans in Trump-voting districts have proved to be the bigger management challenge for Pelosi. But to many Democrats surveyed, the first month — thanks both to Trump and Pelosi — has set an encouraging tone for the next two years. “I think we’ve shown over a long period of time that the Democratic Party has significantly greater unity within its ranks,” House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.)

Source: Washington Post February 01, 2019 18:45 UTC