Pramila Jayapal Becomes the First South Asian American to Preside Over the U.S. House of Representatives

Jayapal shared the big news on her Twitter on Tuesday where she said she was “beyond proud to serve in the most diverse Congress in our nation’s history and to hold the gavel today.”

The 53-year-old Democrat was a Seattle-based civil rights activist before she jumped into politics. She was then first elected in the U.S. House of Representative in 2016 after being endorsed by Bernie Sanders.

While Nancy Pelosi is the current Speaker of the House of Representative since January 2019, members of the majority party often rotates the ceremonial position of presiding over the House, according to NDTV.

Featured image via Instagram / repjayapal