Kamala Harris to transform US politics by leading record number of elected women

Amid the US election chaos, while Kamala Harris is poised to become the first female vice president of the nation, it was noted that a record number of women are also elected to Congress, including more Republicans than ever. Born of a mother from India and father from Jamaica, Harris will become the first woman, first Indian American, first Black, first South Asian American and the first Asian ever elected as the vice president. While taking to Twitter, the 56-year-old echoed a speech which Hillary Clinton delivered in 2016 in recognising her defeat by Donald Trump and said, “We showed girls what’s possible”. 

Back in 2016, Clinton said, “I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but someday someone will, and hopefully sooner than we might think”. She then also directed the words of encouragement to the country’s “little girls” and said, “Never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams”. 

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Over the years, women have transformed the face of American politics, both in Congress and in White House. Now, several US media outlets have reported that analyst expects President-elect Biden to appoint either progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren or Federal Reserve official Lael Brainard, who is a former Treasury undersecretary, to head the Treasury, which is a position never filled by a woman. The United States might also see its first woman secretary of defence under the Biden administration. 

Meanwhile, currently, there are only two women in the Trump cabinet - Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and the education secretary Betsy DeVos. However, several women have served Trump as senior advisors or as White House spokesperson. 

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Record-breaking 2020 US election 

Back in 2018, the US had elected a record number of women, but on November 3, the country broke that record. While some results of the election are not yet final, at least 140 women will be taking seats in Congress when it returns on January 3. According to the Rutgers University's Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), there are currently 127 women in Congress or 23.7 per cent of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives and the 100 in the Senate. 

As per reports, the Democratic women will claim 105 seats in Congress and the Republican, for their part, will occupy 35 seats, which is considerably fewer than their Democratic counterparts but still big increase from the current 22. When asked about the record number of Republican women elected, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday had said that she would congratulate and welcome each and every one of them. She, however, also added that her party was doing better by women. 

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