US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi takes her oath of office as the Speaker the 117th House of Representatives after being re-elected as Speaker in Washington, US, January 3, 2021. (Photo by Reuters)

Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the only female US Speaker of the US House of Representatives, has been narrowly re-elected to the position on Sunday as a new Congress took office amid political uncertainty in the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency.

The 80-year-old lawmaker from California secured her fourth term as House speaker by earning 216 votes versus 209 for Republican leader Kevin McCarthy.

Her re-election comes as Senate control is undecided and a Republican fight looms over presidential election results.

Democrats lost 11 seats in the November elections to command a narrower 222-212 majority. On Sunday, five fellow Democrats defected - two voted for Democratic lawmakers who were not running, while three others simply voted present.

We begin the new Congress during a time of extraordinary difficulty, Pelosi told the chamber, noting the toll of 350,000 dead and 20 million infected by COVID-19 in the United States.

Our most urgent priority will continue to be defeating the coronavirus. And defeat it, we will. A masked Pelosi said, pledging that further aid would follow the latest $892 billion package that Congress passed in December.

Pelosi has been a fierce opponent of President Trump and his chief nemesis, saying last month that she wants to pull him out of White House by his hair, his little hands and feet.

I’m counting down the hours ‘til he’s gone, Pelosi told her leadership team.

The two clashed bitterly over the past two years, particularly as she leveled impeachment charges against the president.

Trump was impeached in December 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress charges, but the Senate acquitted him early in 2020.

In Sunday’s vote, among those who initially opposed Pelosi Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most high-profile Democrats in Washington, and incoming lawmaker Cori Bush, who is the first African-American woman to represent Missouri in Congress.

We are just (an) extremely slim amount of votes away from risking the speakership to the Republican Party, Ocasio-Cortez said.

Biden’s agenda at stake

The Senate remains Republican run ahead of twin elections in Georgia on Tuesday, giving its members a platform to again air Trump’s claims that the November election was the result of fraud.

Republican senators and House members plan to challenge the election result when Congress certifies it on Wednesday.

The Jan. 5 head-to-head Georgia runoffs were triggered when no candidate reached 50% in November. Polls suggest the contests are virtual dead heats.

If either or both Republican incumbent senators - David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler - win on Tuesday, their party would retain a narrow majority, effectively giving Senate Republicans the ability to block Biden’s goals.

Biden’s narrow Georgia victory in November - the first in a generation for a Democratic presidential candidate - completed the state’s shift from a Republican stronghold to a fiercely competitive battleground.