Nancy Pelosi wins House speaker in historic Congress vote as Democrats inherit government shutdown

In response to the incoming Congress, the president called a surprise meeting to promote border security that was quickly labelled a 'stunt'

Republican congressman Ryan Costello calls Trump's an 'angry 8th grader' for 'close the border' tweet

Congress has reconvened for its 116th session, with the Democrats taking majority control of the House of Representatives after their success in last November’s midterm elections.

Democratic Representative Nancy Pelosi has made history by becoming speaker of the House for a second time, the first person to do so in 50 years. She is the first woman in US history to hold the office — which is third in line from the presidency — and on Thursday took the speaker's gavel for the second time in her life.

Ms Pelosi, during her first speech behind the speaker's lectern in the 116th Congress, laid out a vision to push for progressive policies to tackle climate change issues, while protecting America's social safety net. She expressed an optimism in American democracy, while reaffirming the legislature's obligation to serve as oversight of the executive branch of government — a clear threat to President Donald Trump, who has so far enjoyed Republican control of the entire government since taking office.

"They called upon the beauty of our Constitution: our system of checks and balances that protects our democracy, remembering that the legislative branch is Article I: the first branch of government, co-equal to the president and judiciary," Ms Pelosi said.

She continued, describing the expectations of America for it's elected representatives: "They want a Congress that delivers results for the people, opening up opportunity and lifting up their lives".

The San Francisco liberal has promised her first act will be to quickly pass legislation to bring the recent government shutdown to an end without releasing funds for President Donald Trump‘s proposed Mexico border wall. The Republican-held Senate could block such a bill but doing so would see the GOP left accountable for the continued federal hiatus. The Senate had previously passed legislation to keep the government open without the level of border wall funding requested by Mr Trump, but that measure was not passed by the then-Republican controlled House.

In response to the events on Capitol Hill, Mr Trump declared a last-minute event in the White House press briefing room that included senior members of the National Border Patrol Council, a labour union representing Border Patrol agents. That labour union lobbies heavily in Washington in favour of border security measures and immigration legislation.

That even was seen as an attempt to divert attention from Ms Pelosi, and was labelled by pundits and critics as a "stunt". That group included CNN anchor Brianna Keilar.

Ms Pelosi could prove to be an effective opponent for Mr Trump as talks surrounding the government shutdown — which are expected to restart on Friday — continue onward. During a meeting before the shutdown itself, Ms Pelosi and her Democratic counterpart in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, managed to get the president to take responsibility for the shutdown during a televised meeting in the Oval Office. Their next meeting after that, on Wednesday, occurred behind closed doors.

But, Ms Pelosi also faces a difficult task ahead as she looks to maintain a cohesive Democratic party and avoid the fracturing that was seen after the conservative Tea Party wave washed through Washington in 2010 and let establishment and centrist Republican leaders with little room to manoeuvre in the face of hard line members of their caucus.

To maintain that cohesion, Ms Pelosi has promised to limit her speakership to four years in order to help usher in a younger generation of leadership in the party.

Ms Pelosi has also faced pressure from the party's ascendant progressive wing, with popular candidates like New York's Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez among those leading the push for causes like a transformative and ambitious Green New Deal programme that would eliminate the United States' reliance on fossil fuels — but would require massive investment and political will to be made into law.

Please read along for our coverage of the day's events, as they happened

Key Points

• Democratic leadermakes history and returns as speaker
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar take oath
• Democrats pledge to use new legislative power to bring federal shutdown to an end
• The president held a quick event to promote voter security that was called a 'stunt'

[3 January 2019 16:06 · Chris Stevenson]

Here is a longer piece on Nancy Pelosi's round of interviews last night/this morning and what the new session might mean for Donald Trump.

[3 January 2019 16:17 · Chris Stevenson]

Rashida Tlaib will become America's first Palestinian-American woman in Congress when she's sworn in later today.

The Michigan Democrat, who has said she will wear a Palestinian gown called a thobe for her ceremony, plans to be sworn in on a Quran.

The incoming congresswoman said that she has considered the possibility of using Thomas Jefferson's Quran or her own, calling the former President's Quran a "symbol," that "Islam has been part of American history for a long time."

[3 January 2019 16:28 · Chris Stevenson]

Representative Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont, said today's more diverse Congress is "great for the country."

"The more diversity we have and the more women we have, the more people that are representative of all of America to be part of the decision making process, that's a great, great thing," Mr Welch said.

[3 January 2019 16:39 · Chris Stevenson]

Here is something on the religious make-up of the new session of Congress from the Pew Research Center.

[3 January 2019 17:02 · Chris Stevenson]

More from Minnesota Representative-elect Ilhan Omar, who makes good use of social media as do many of the new younger members of Congress.

[3 January 2019 17:11 · Chris Stevenson]

It is past noon in Washington, DC, which means that the 116th Congress has officially convened. In this new Congress, Democrats have taken control of the House, while Republicans continue to hold their majority in the Senate.

The new senators and representatives will be sworn in later today.

[3 January 2019 17:14 · Chris Stevenson]

Vice President Mike Pence, who also serves as the President of the Senate, is swearing in senators on the floor now.

The senators are being sworn in groups of four.

Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, was in the first group. A big supporter of Donald Trump, she is the first female senator from the state.

[3 January 2019 17:21 · Chris Stevenson]

Here is the new pin for members of the House of Representatives as part of the 116th session of Congress.

[3 January 2019 17:30 · Chris Stevenson]

There is at least one celebrity in the House of Representatives, singer Tony Bennett

[3 January 2019 17:38 · Chris Stevenson]

Here is what is happening on the House floor:

In the 435-member House, a roll call has begun on the election of speaker. Representative Nancy Pelosi, the leading Democrat in the chamber is poised to reprise her role in that post, second in line to the presidency.

Once the vote is over, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy is expected to speak, followed by an address by Ms Pelosi. 

The longest-serving member of the House and its dean, 24-term Representative Don Young, a Republican of Alaska, will swear in Ms Pelosi. She is then expected administer the oath to House members and delegates at the same time.