Time - USA (2020-05-11)

Her Art

of the Deal

NANCY PELOSI IS AT THE CENTER OF THE EFFORT

TO SAVE THE U.S. ECONOMY. AGAIN

By Molly Ball

Politics

NaNcy Pelosi was gettiNg imPatieNt. it was

mid-March, and the House Speaker and her staff

were working around the clock to draft urgent leg-

islation to address the coronavirus pandemic. But the

White House was dragging its feet: she hadn’t heard

back from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, her

negotiating partner, in more than 12 hours.

Pelosi told Mnuchin the delay was unacceptable,

and he got the message. The next morning, he

boasted to Pelosi that his staff had been up until

4 a.m. putting the finishing touches on the Families

First Coronavirus Response Act, providing funding

for free testing, paid leave and expanded food

stamps.

“I’m not impressed,” Pelosi replied. “We do it all

the time.”

As the pandemic takes tens of thousands of lives

and tens of millions of jobs, a Congress known for

dysfunction has kicked into gear. Four massive bills

with a price tag of nearly $3 trillion have sought to

aid the sick, shore up the health care system, and ease

the burden on workers and businesses. It’s the big-

gest federal outlay in history, dwarfing the response

to the 2008 financial crisis, and as Speaker, Pelosi is

naturally at the center of it. Before the ink was dry

on the latest $484 billion small-business rescue pack-

age, she was on the phone trying to make the next

deal to aid state and local governments whose bud-

gets have been ravaged by the crisis. As Representa-

tive Karen Bass, a California Democrat, told Politico

recently, “Quiet as it’s kept, she’s the one leading the

country right now.”

Precisely because it required a frozen government

to act, the pandemic has put Pelosi’s legislative talents

on urgent display. It’s a fitting capstone to her historic

three-decade career. Many congressional scholars

consider Pelosi the most adept lawmaker of the

past half-century, measuring her record of society-

shaping legislation against the backdrop of the most

partisan and gridlocked Congress in decades. While

Republicans accuse her of obstruction, and some on

the left accuse her of giving away the store, Pelosi

believes she’s maximized her leverage at a time when

inaction is not an option.

The legislative prowess Pelosi has exhibited dur-

ing the crisis was honed in years of negotiations,

often with the fate of the economy hanging in the

balance. As Speaker from 2007 to 2011, she was in-

strumental in the U.S. response to the 2008 financial

crisis and subsequent recession. As minority leader

from 2011 to 2017, she forged deals in the high-stakes

budget battles between President Obama and con-

gressional Republicans.

For my new biography, Pelosi, I spent more than

PHOTOGRAPH BY SHAWN THEW