what does nancy pelosi do

Nancy Pelosi is an American politician who has served in various leadership positions in the United States House of Representatives. She was elected the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House and has held this position twice, from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023. Pelosi is known for being the chief architect of generation-defining legislation under two Democratic administrations, including the Affordable Care Act and the American Rescue Plan. She has also been a force for accountability, transparency, and participation in government, leading the House to enact the toughest ethics reform legislation in the history of the Congress, including the creation of an independent ethics panel. Pelosi has long been a leader in the fight for full equality, spearheading the historic repeal of the discriminatory "Dont Ask, Dont Tell" policy, allowing gay and lesbian Americans to openly serve their country. She has also passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a law advancing justice for the victims of hate crimes. Pelosi supports the Equality Act, a bill that would expand the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In November 2022, Pelosi announced that she would not seek a leadership position in the new Congress, ending a historic run as the first woman with the gavel and making way for a new generation to steer the party after Democrats lost control of the House to Republicans in the midterm elections.