Democrats Take the Gavels in Congress

Newly elected Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, holds up the gavel surrounded by children and grandchildren of members of Congress in the U.S. Capitol in Washington Thursday, Jan. 4, 2007. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Now we get to see what happens with the Democrats in control of Congress. From the New York Times:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 — Jubilant Democrats took the gavels in the Senate and House today for the first time in 12 years, pledging a new era in Congress and a new effort at bipartisan progress.

“I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship,” said Representative Nancy Pelosi of California after her election as the first woman in the nation’s history to be Speaker of the House.

Ms. Pelosi, whose party has 233 of the 435 seats in the new House, said she looked forward to working with Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the new Republican minority leader, who said the gavel was “on loan from the American people,” and that Republicans and Democrats could “disagree without being disagreeable to each other.”

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Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the new Senate majority leader, sounded a similar theme. “With the opening of the 110th Congress and the beginning of new Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, it’s time to start moving America forward,” he said. “Guided by the spirit of bipartisanship, Democrats are ready to take this country in a new direction.”

New Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) (R), and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (2nd L) talk to reporters after a bipartisan caucus in the Old Senate Chamber on the first day of the 110th Congress at the Capitol in Washington January 4, 2007. Also pictured is Senator Trent Lott (R-MI) (L) new Minority Whip. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

But Ms. Pelosi made it quite clear earlier that her party intends to flex its newly acquired muscle, as she presided over the swearing-in of the leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, headed by Representative Kendrick Meek of Florida.

“The Democrats are back, and the C.B.C. is in the lead, in the lead!” Ms. Pelosi exulted. Throwing a dart at Republicans, she envisioned “a new direction that is there for all of the people, not just the privileged few,” a direction that “builds and strengthens the middle class.”

As Ms. Pelosi assumed power, her predecessor sat quietly at his desk. Representative J. Dennis Hastert, who turned 65 on Tuesday, is now just a Republican congressman from Illinois, out of the Speaker’s chair and out of the leadership.

Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert(R) watches the nomination procedure of Speaker of the House-elect Nancy Pelosi from the back of the room during a swearing in ceremony for the 110th Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC.(AFP/Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla)

The Democrats are back in power! Now the real work begins.