House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says Paul Ryan, the GOP's newly-anointed House Speaker, kowtowed to the party's ultra-conservatives during his inaugural speech on Capitol Hill.
But the Republican way-right hardline of the tea party actually "empowers" Democrats, she adds.
In a wide-ranging interview with
Politico, the influential California Democrat said she found Ryan's talk of the need to empower a "neglected minority" of Republicans "a little scary."
"It was really a speech to the Freedom Caucus, wasn't it? So we'll see," she told the political website, referring to the elite and powerful group of conservative lawmakers in the House.
"In some respects, the tea party empowers us. Our unity empowers us, first and foremost. But they give more leverage to our votes by their ideological stance."
Ryan is currently in the honeymoon phase of his new job, which he took over from Rep. John Boehner of Ohio. Boehner resigned under increasing pressure by hardliners to get out and Ryan must walk a political tightrope to make sure he doesn't fall into the same trap.
Pelosi's next big task is to work on getting government spending legislation passed and avoid a government shutdown in December.
Politico reports that she and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid are "laying out conditions: no controversial GOP riders, such as those to defund Planned Parenthood, and no more kick-the-can spending bills."
And how long does she intend to stay as the Democrats' top banana in the House? As long as the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, is under attack by Republican lawmakers.
"My main mission and best accomplishment, of course, is the Affordable Care Act, which is continually under assault," she told Politico's Lauren French.
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