Highlighting the Republican preference for helping the wealthy, Pelosi promised to "redeem the promise of the American dream for every family, advancing progress for every community," a policy that may not sit well with the GOP, which for years has fought against those priorities.
"Let us declare that we will call upon bold thinking to address the disparity of income in America, which is at the root of the crisis of confidence felt by so many Americans," she said, in a clear rebuke to the president. "As Justice Brandeis said, 'we may have democracy or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of the few but we cannot have both.' We must end that injustice and restore the public's faith in a better future for themselves and their children."
Pelosi also signaled that her Speakership would focus on strengthening and expanding the middle class.
"Aristotle said 'it is manifest that the best political community is formed by citizens of the middle class, in which the middle class is large and stronger than any of the other classes,'" she said. And, she added, in remarks sure to give Republicans heartburn, "we must fight for the middle class that is fair and fiscally sound protecting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security."
As Trump rolls back decades of clean air and water legislation and promotes rules that will make climate change even worse, Pelosi pushed back hard.
"We must also face the existential threat of our time, the climate crisis, a crisis manifested in natural disasters of epic proportions," she said, adding that the people were way ahead of Congress. "That is why we have created a select committee on climate crisis. The entire Congress must work to put an end to the inaction and denial of science that threaten the planet in the future."
"Protect people with preexisting medical conditions"; "increase paychecks by rebuilding America with green and modern infrastructure"; "passing common sense bipartisan background check legislation"; "passing the equality act to end discrimination against the LGBTQ community"; "protecting our patriotic courageous Dreamers": on topic after topic, Pelosi took subtle shots at the president and his supporters in the Republican Party.
"We have no illusions that our work will be easy and that all of us in this chamber will always agree. But let us give a pledge that when we disagree we respect each other and we respect the truth," added Pelosi, who recently accused Trump of being resistant to facts.
She pledging a "transparent, bipartisan, and unifying" Congress, and in a not-so-subtle trolling, promised to send legislation re-opening the government to the Senate, where Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to block the bill from even reaching the floor.
The new speaker also co-opted Trump's presidential campaign slogan, saying "We will make America more American by protecting DREAMers."
Pelosi closed her speech by citing Republican presidents Reagan and Bush, another not-so-subtle dig at her Republican opposition, and then gaveled the House into session.
Watch the video below.
