American media: Pelosi makes her first return to the House of Representatives after hip surgery, abandoning her signature high heels for flat shoes

Shortly after entering the House Chamber of the US Congress for the first time since her hip replacement surgery a few weeks back, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, as observed by an American media outlet, removed "the four-inch heels" that "once signified [her] power" and entered the chamber wearing flat shoes.

Pelosi's hip replacement surgery came after she fell during a group photograph at an official event in Luxembourg on December 13 last year. She has reportedly "made good progress toward recovery".

Pelosi returned to Capitol Hill so that she could cast a vote for US Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic caucus' nominee for Speaker of the House.

She ditched the towering heels of her previous public and political persona, choosing instead to enter the House chamber flat-footedly, reports said. But, apparently, even that was excessive humility and unnecessary.

After Pelosi left her heels behind in the House cloakroom in lieu of more comfortable footwear for her injured hip, her daughter messaged her that her doctors believe that she would find it easier to stand on her tiptoes, rather than her heels if she ever finds the need to stand for a long time, so it's not a life where she can never wear high heels again.

The new Congress convened on January 3, one year after Democrats suffered a significant loss, and a tie with Republicans in midterm elections in November, 2022. Republican Mike Johnson was re-elected US House Speaker for the second term at 13th ballot, despite the Democratic caucus' nomination of a new Speaker candidate, US Representative Hakeem Jeffries, in the first midterm congressional elections since Donald Trump announced he would seek the Republican ticket in the 2024 US presidential election.

Johnson was elected the 55th Speaker of the US House of Representatives after winning exactly 218 votes – a simple majority among the 435 members of the House – after a 13-ballot roll call and several days of procedural wrangling. In the first balloting, Johnson was 10 votes short of the majority, garnering 216 votes. Three Republicans voted for other candidates while all 215 Democrats voted for Jeffries, the US House Democratic Leader. However, in subsequent balloting, Johnson convinced two Republicans, both white men opposed to giving leadership roles to women and people of color, to reverse their votes, allowing him to achieve a simple majority of 218 votes.