NANCY SURVIVES – AT 5:50 P.M. ET:  Nancy Pelosi has been re-elected speaker of the House, but by a very narrow margin.  The new House, meeting for the first time today, has a much smaller Democratic majority than the last one.  And some moderate Democrats defected, and refused to vote for Nancy.  From Fox: 

Nancy Pelosi on Sunday clinched enough votes in the House of Representatives to secure her fourth term as House speaker. 

The California Democrat, who has led her party in the House since 2003 and is the only woman to be speaker, had been widely expected to retain her post. Pelosi received 216 votes to 209 for Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who again will be the chamber's minority leader. 

Earlier, 427 members announced themselves as present -- 220 Democrats and 207 Republicans. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., needed a majority, or 214 votes, to return as speaker, meaning that she could afford to lose just six Democratic votes.

COMMENT:  So she won basically by getting two votes above the minimum needed.  Not a famous victory.  And when she gets to actual legislation, she'll be up against moderate Democrats who may not want to commit political suicide by going along with their radical comrades. 

Control of the Senate will be decided by Tuesday's runoffs in Georgia.  I've rarely seen things this close. 

January 3, 2021