Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; née D'Alesandro; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician serving as Speaker of the United States House of Representati...
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; née D'Alesandro; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician serving as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019, and previously from 2007 to 2011. Pelosi has served as a U.S. representative from California since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the only woman in U.S. history to serve as Speaker and, until the inauguration of Kamala Harris as vice president, was the highest-ranking female elected official in United States history. As House Speaker, Pelosi is second in the presidential line of succession, after the vice president.Pelosi was first elected to Congress in 1987, following her father, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., who served as a U.S. representative from Maryland and Mayor of Baltimore, into politics. She is the dean of California's congressional delegation, having begun her 18th term in 2021. Pelosi represents California's 12th congressional district, which comprises four-fifths of the city and county of San Francisco. She initially represented the 5th district (1987–1993), and then, when district boundaries were redrawn after the 1990 Census, the 8th district (1993–2013). Pelosi has led the House Democrats since 2003—the first woman to lead a party in Congress—serving twice each as House minority leader (2003–2007 and 2011–2019) and as Speaker (2007–2011 and since 2019).
Pelosi was a major opponent of the Iraq War as well as the Bush administration's 2005 attempt to partially privatize Social Security. During her first speakership, she was instrumental in the passage of many of the Obama administration's landmark bills, including the Affordable Care Act, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the 2010 Tax Relief Act.
Pelosi lost the speakership in 2011 after the Republican Party won a majority in the House of Representatives in the 2010 elections. But she retained her role as leader of the House Democratic Caucus and returned to the role of House minority leader. In the 2018 midterm elections, the Democrats regained control of the House. When the 116th Congress convened on January 3, 2019, Pelosi was again elected Speaker, becoming the first former Speaker to return to the post since Sam Rayburn in 1955. Under Pelosi's leadership, the House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump, first on December 18, 2019, and again on January 13, 2021.On January 3, 2021, Pelosi was reelected to a fourth term as Speaker of the House, which is expected to be her last, after a deal with progressives.
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Richard Durbin
Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Illinois, a sea...
Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Illinois, a seat he was first elected to in 1996. He has been the Senate Democratic Whip since 2005, the second-highest position in the Democratic leadership in the U.S. Senate. He will be the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee for the 117th Congress.
Durbin was born in East St. Louis, Illinois. He graduated from the School of Foreign Service and Georgetown University Law Center. Working in state legal counsel throughout the 1970s, he made an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor of Illinois in 1978. Durbin was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, representing the Springfield-based 20th congressional district. In 1996, he won election to the U.S. Senate. Durbin has served as the Senate Democratic Whip since 2005, and from 2007 to 2015, served as the Senate Majority Whip.
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