Speaker of House Nancy Pelosi holds gavel during first session of 116th Congress.

(AFP)Nancy Pelosi was elected speaker of House of Representatives in a triumphant return to post as Democrats took power Thursday with authority to investigate President Donald Trump and perhaps begin impeachment proceedings.The California Democrat, only woman to hold speakership, won partisan election with 220 Democratic votes.

Most Republicans backed Rep Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.The House will turn to business with a vote later Thursday on Democrats' plan to reopen federal departments that have been closed since December 22.

But Trump has rejected effort, and GOP leaders in Senate already have said chamber won't act without his support, so shutdown is likely to drag on.Pelosi, 78, clinched speakership after weeks of whittling down opposition from some fellow Democrats seeking a new generation of leadership.

The deal to win over holdouts put an expiration date on her tenure: she promised not to stay more than four years in job.In a speech to House, Pelosi will call on members to be "pioneers of future" to build economy, ease income disparity, address climate change, and reduce health-care costs, according to excerpts released by her office."We have heard from too many families who wonder if they have a place in economy of tomorrow," Pelosi will say.

"We must remove all doubt that they do, and assure them that we will have an economy that works for you."Democrats won House majority in November's election, gaining a net 40 seats, by riding a surge of suburban and female voters' anger at Trump.

Pelosi leads an emboldened and diverse Democratic caucus, which includes rising progressive stars as well as moderates who captured traditionally conservative districts.

A record number of women -- 89 Democrats and 13 Republicans -- will hold seats in chamber.

Among them are first two Muslim women elected to Congress and two who are first black representatives from New England.In her remarks, Pelosi will applaud "optimism, idealism and patriotism of this transformative freshman class."She'll have to balance bipartisan compromises on legislation with oversight of a president whose inner circle and business dealings are under a slew of investigations.

Democrats control House 235-199, with one seat in North Carolina not yet decided.Pelosi becomes second in line to presidency, after vice president.

She also served as speaker from 2007 to 2011, and is first person to return to position after losing majority since Democrat Sam Rayburn in 1950s.One of House Democrats' first acts Thursday is to vote on legislation to end partial US government shutdown without adding funds for Trump's border wall.

The plan is to pass two separate bills, one reopening eight departments -- which have been closed since Dec.

22 -- through September 2019 and another temporarily reopening Department of Homeland Security through Feb.

8.This would allow negotiations over Trump's request for $5 billion for a border wall to continue while rest of government would continue operating.

Republicans have rejected this plan, even though it's based on bills passed in GOP-led Senate committees, and a White House meeting among Trump and congressional leaders Wednesday yielded no progress.Speaker of House Nancy Pelosi speaks to members of Congress.

(AFP)Trump suggested another meeting on Friday to restart negotiations after leadership elections.Trump has said he relishes opportunity to confront Pelosi and sees her as a convenient foil for his 2020 re-election campaign.

Pelosi, who touted her legislative acumen as her top qualification for returning to job, will be country's most high-profile Democrat as party chooses a presidential nominee to oppose president in 2020.The Republicans' strategy of defeating Democrats in November's election by tying them to Pelosi largely failed.

Now she will be more than an image in a campaign ad; As House speaker she needs to create an agenda bold enough to keep progressives animated without alienating swing voters willing to consider alternatives to Trump.One early skirmish with progressives in her own party comes later Thursday when House will vote on its package of legislative rules, normally a routine matter.

But progressives Ro Khanna of California and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York oppose package because it contains a "pay as you go" austerity provision supported by Democratic centrists.Much of tenor for 116th Congress could be set by a report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian interference in 2016 presidential election.

Some Democrats in Congress, bolstered by outside groups, say there's already proof that Trump has committed "high crimes and misdemeanors" that would justify his removal from office, but most party members are waiting for Mueller's report.Brad Sherman, a California Democrat who introduced articles of impeachment last year, told Los Angeles Times that he plans to re-introduce this measure in new Congress, citing Trump's firing of then-FBI Director James Comey as an example of obstruction of justice.Pelosi thus far has rejected pursuing Trump's impeachment, saying that such a move would be divisive for country and would need conclusive evidence of wrongdoing from special counsel investigation."We have to wait and see what happens with Mueller report," Pelosi said Wednesday in an NBC interview.

"We shouldn't be impeaching for a political reason and we shouldn't avoid impeachment for a political reason."Pelosi said House Democrats should focus more on issues such as immigration, climate and health care that are most important to American people.These issues in past gave Pelosi some victories, such as Affordable Care Act that was Obama administration's signature domestic achievement, and some disappointments, including Dream Act to protect young undocumented immigrants that she shepherded through House in 2010, only to see it fail in Senate.The next two terms will be last chance for Pelosi to work for policy priorities that have made her a hero to many women and progressives and a constant target of conservative attack ads.

Pelosi, first elected to Congress in 1986, said she'll support a term-limit proposal for party leaders that would also apply to her two septuagenarian deputies: Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina.The proposal would limit Democrats in top three House majority jobs to three two-year terms, with option for a fourth term if approved by two-thirds of caucus.

Hoyer and Clyburn said they oppose it.Pelosi said she'll abide by proposal even if party doesn't adopt it in February.

The term limit would be retroactive to her previous two terms as speaker, meaning she would have to step down by 2023.

It probably would change little about her career plans."Four years No, I don't think that's a lame duck," Pelosi told reporters after agreeing to term limit deal last month.(Except for headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)