Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi draw on their history to unite fractious Democrats

Mr. Biden and Ms. Pelosi, who both hope to begin taking additional steps to address the coronavirus pandemic, should unite party members who have been bickering over issues such as the expansion of government health insurance, how much to spend on the combating climate change and criminal justice policy.

The couple must also work with Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer of New York to win enough Republicans to clear that chamber’s 60-vote threshold for most bills. Control of the Senate – which could determine the success or failure of much of the Democratic agenda – depends on the outcome of two run-off races in Georgia.

The last time a Democratic president took office, the party had a comfortable majority in the House and briefly had a super majority in the Senate. This time, with two house races not named, the Democrats have just a few more seats than the 218 needed for a majority in the House. Mr. Biden has recruited three House lawmakers to serve in his government, which will temporarily further shrink the majority.

Ms Pelosi will have to keep most of her caucus together on Sunday as she seeks approval from the full Parliament for a new term as speaker. She faced no opposition within her party to remain their leader in November.

She said it would be easier to unite its members behind a common agenda with a Democrat in the White House – when the legislation they are passing is more likely to become law – than under President Trump.

“It’s a very unifying thing,” Ms Pelosi said in an interview, noting that about 100 House Democratic lawmakers have never served a president of their party.

Mr. Biden declined to be interviewed through a spokesperson. “The President-elect’s respect and admiration for Speaker Pelosi dates back decades,” said Biden spokesman TJ Ducklo. “Their strong friendship is rooted in a shared commitment to public service and a commitment to their families and their faith.”

Mr. Biden, age 78, and Mrs. Pelosi, age 80, have known each other long before they took on two of the best jobs in US politics. Mrs. Pelosi recalls being invited to a party by Mr. Biden in Rehoboth Beach, Del., In the late 1980’s when she was a new congressman.

She knew the then-senator from Delaware through party politics, and at the meeting he introduced her to friends. The only problem: many heard her first name and mistook her for professional golfer Nancy Lopez.

“I didn’t want to disappoint them; I just smiled, ”the speaker recalled, laughing.

Over the years, the two have formed a friendship in which they refer to each other by their first names, a rarity for Ms. Pelosi. Both are Roman Catholic and cite their faith as motivation for their service. Mrs. Pelosi said they both had simple rosaries in their pockets. The two went to Rome for Pope Francis’s inauguration in 2013.

When Mr Biden, then Senator, was in favor of the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, Ms. Pelosi helped win votes in Parliament. Later, Ms. Pelosi oversaw foreign spending on the House Appropriations Committee, while Mr. Biden chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the two traveled to Europe in 1997 with then-President Bill Clinton.

In the Obama administration, Mr. Biden was often sent by the White House to discuss agreements with the speaker, including the auto industry bailout and the Affordable Care Act, said John Lawrence, Ms. Pelosi’s then chief of staff.

“She felt that when she spoke to Biden, she was talking to a colleague and someone who understood the Congress side of White House-Congress relations better than other people in the White House,” he said.

Ms Pelosi has occasionally criticized Mr Biden, especially in connection with his handling of sexual harassment.

During the confirmation process before Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in 1991, Ms. Pelosi and other women lawmakers urged the leadership of the Senate, including Mr. Biden – the then chair of the Judicial Committee – to re-appoint Judge Thomas. In light of sexual harassment allegations made by Anita Hill.

In April 2019, Ms. Pelosi said that accusations against Mr. Biden of inappropriate touching did not disqualify him from running for president, but that he should be more careful.

Former Senate Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said Mr. Biden approaches the talks casually and is never in a hurry to strike a deal. Ms. Pelosi is formal and works according to a timeline, he said. But the couple trust each other, he said.

Rohit Kumar, a former deputy chief of staff to majority leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), Said that both Democrats know how to negotiate bipartisan deals, but that Mr Biden may be more inclined to do so.

“Biden is more moderate than Pelosi,” said Mr. Kumar, who is now a co-leader of PwC’s national tax office. “He’s ready to make deals she wouldn’t want to do.”

Mr Kumar said that in a 2012 meeting on a series of impending tax hikes and cuts known as the “tax cliff”, Ms Pelosi spoke at length about her opposition to attempts to lower inheritance taxes.

Forty-eight hours later, said Mr. Kumar, Mr. Biden agreed to set inheritance tax parameters to raise less money than Democrats wanted, although he did not accept calls from Republicans to withdraw the tax. Since then, Democrats have tried unsuccessfully to raise the estate tax rates and lower the exemption.

Ms. Pelosi is known as a skilled vote counter who tries to find common ground between her members and keep her party together in hard votes. Mr. Biden built his legislative career forging relationships with Republicans and continued reaching out to them as Vice President, much to the dismay of some Democrats.

Some Democrats say their leaders are too quick to make deals with Republicans. In late December, as leaders of both sides negotiated a coronavirus package, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., NY) tweeted, “A big difference between GOP and Dems is that GOP uses their right flank to gain policy concessions and generate enthusiasm, while Dems lock their left flank in the basement, they think Republicans will be nicer to them as a result. “

There could be a fight between the parties over expanding access to healthcare, which Ms Pelosi says is one of her main goals. Progressives want to extend Medicare to all Americans. Instead, Mr. Biden and Ms. Pelosi have proposed creating a public option to compete with private insurers.

The duo’s first challenge is the coronavirus pandemic that killed more than 342,000 Americans, shut down businesses and slowed economic growth. Mr Biden has also said he hopes to provide a path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants in the US without permanent legal status, and to pursue policies to address climate change.

“I have no doubt she will be in the room all the time,” Phil Schiliro, the White House liaison with Congress led by Mr. Obama, said of Ms. Pelosi. “There won’t be a major conversation that doesn’t involve her with the president-elect.”

Former Senator Ted Kaufman (D., Del.), Mr. Biden’s longtime aide who leads his presidential transition, said Democrats have always held a set of ideological views and that Mr. Biden united the party behind him in the November election. .

“Democrats are not like Republicans, they don’t march in lockstep, and Nancy has always managed to keep that coalition together in the House,” said Mr Kaufman. “It was the same coalition that helped the president-elect.”

—Richard Rubin contributed to this article.

Write to Natalie Andrews at [email protected] and Eliza Collins at [email protected].