Donald Trump and Republicans spent the past two years governing in a vacuum of competence and leadership. On Wednesday, likely Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a message: That ends right here, right now.
"When we go down any of these paths, we’ll know what we're doing and we'll do it right," Pelosi said of investigating Trump.
But her response regarding Democratic oversight was the overarching theme of the press conference she gave literally moments after Trump finished a 90-minute blathering bender of a press conference from the White House East Room.
Predictably, Pelosi said Democrats’ first three legislative priorities would be lowering health care costs, creating jobs through an infrastructure plan, and cleaning up corruption in Washington. This was the governing platform Democrats ran on, and now they plan to deliver.
"Health care was on the ballot, and health care won," she said.
"We want to create jobs from sea to shining sea," she said.
She also promised to "clean up corruption to make America work for the people's interests, not the special interests."
Pelosi pledged to "insist upon openness and transparency" in the governing process so Americans can see "the impact of legislation on their lives." She also welcomed bipartisanship, noting that she found ways to work with George W. Bush in 2006 when Democrats reclaimed control of the House during his presidency.
"We believe we have the responsibility to seek common ground where we can," Pelosi offered.
What Pelosi delivered was a master class in governance. After running on a completely clear agenda with meticulous message discipline, House Democrats plan to do exactly what they said they would do and they plan to do it openly and transparently.
Remember how Republicans spent two years negotiating bills behind closed doors with a tiny subset of the caucus, then springing the bills on everyone and rushing to jam them through before anyone could properly research their impact? That's over.
Trump, by contrast, seesawed all over the place during his own press conference, sometimes combative and sometimes saying he could work with Democrats. He bragged about his big wins on election night ("I won Georgia," he claimed, even as the governor's race appears headed for recount). He trashed Republican losers for not embracing him enough. He instigated a verbal brawl with the press. In short, he delivered the post-election shit show everyone expected from the parallel universe he inhabits.
That's just fine. He's worn out his welcome with some 60-65 percent of Americans. Most of the country is just plain sick and tired of Trump’s sad circus of the grotesque. Blah, blah, blah—blather on, Trump. Every time he opens his mouth, he's giving Pelosi a bigger platform and more room to maneuver as Democrats provide a much-needed salve of sanity to the nation.
Now, Democrats will face the challenge of staying focused as Trump’s chaos swirls around them (e.g. firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions). They did it on the campaign trail to incredible effect. Now they’ll need to do it on Capitol Hill, too.