On Jan. 3, Nancy Pelosi presided over my swearing-in ceremony. With my hand on the Holy Bible surrounded by my wife and children, I thought I was standing next to the progressive hero, the Democrats’ top tactician, and the speaker of the House. I was dead wrong.
Now I know there isn’t just one speaker, there are four. The self-proclaimed “squad,” Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley run the show in the People’s House. They’ve flanked Pelosi from the Left and stolen her mantle as the leader of the so-called progressives.
Pelosi’s fall from grace has been a slow trickle. Before the 116th Congress even gaveled in for the first legislative session, it was blatantly obvious Pelosi didn’t have control of her conference, nor the group that would soon become the de-facto leaders of Democratic Party in the House.
House Democrats launched a campaign to undermine her bid for speaker. It was almost successful, too. Only after she privately lobbied Ocasio-Cortez and acquiesced to demands she support a term limits deal on the speakership was Pelosi able to narrowly evade massive embarrassment. At least, she thought.
Traditionally, the speaker of the House sets the legislative agenda, gives the party marching orders, and ensures that rank-and-file members fall into place. On all fronts, Pelosi is failing miserably.
Ask any American living outside the Beltway to name a single piece of legislation from this Congress and I’d be willing to bet the only one they’d be able to name is Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal.” Would a single person mention H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act that Pelosi held a press conference about in March? Would they be able to name H.R. 5, the so-called “Equality Act,” which the speaker unveiled at another press conference with House and Senate Democratic leadership? The answer to both is a resounding “no.”
While Ocasio-Cortez has introduced the only piece of legislation to become a household name so far this year, Tlaib has taken the post of field general, dishing out marching orders.
Just hours after Pelosi swore us in, Tlaib told a room of MoveOn supporters (note the irony) that she would lead the Democratic Party on a crusade to “impeach the motherf—er,” referring to President Trump. Shortly following Tlaib’s comment, a memo went out to all the Democratic committee chairs to leverage the power of the legislative branch and undermine the ability of the president to fulfill his campaign promises.
Even though Pelosi knows it’s political suicide to pursue impeachment (poll after poll shows more Americans want congressional Democrats to let Trump be) she seems powerless to stop it. A member of her own conference and a fellow Texan, Rep. Al Green, (once again) filed articles of impeachment just this week. Pelosi said she doesn’t support impeachment, but, with more than 80 members of her conference in support of launching a formal inquiry, it is unclear how long she will be able to hold them off.
For her part, Omar must have Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer under a spell. Both Pelosi and Hoyer have been vocal supporters of Israel for decades. But since Omar came to town they can’t even condemn her naked anti-Semitism and even put her on the House Foreign Affairs Committee to spew Hamas talking points. To their credit, Pelosi and Hoyer did try to condemn Omar’s now infamous anti-Semitic tweet, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby.” But something went awry. The resolution condemning anti-Semitism somehow transformed to a watered-down resolution condemning “hate.”
Omar got the message: She can say any hateful thing she wants without reproach! It didn’t take her long to suggest American servicemembers were “terrorists,” blame the U.S. for devastation in Venezuela, and share Hamas propaganda on Twitter. Neither Pelosi, nor anyone from her party’s leadership, has lifted a finger to stop it. Why? They are terrified.
The latest example of the “squad’s” control over the House was Pelosi’s resolution to condemn President Trump for his comments during a Twitter fight with four speakers over the weekend. After calling the president “racist” on the House floor, an act of pure pandering to the squad, Pelosi was ruled “out of order,” breaking a House rule which has remained unbroken for roughly 30 years. Pelosi’s gaffe led to a member vacating the speaker’s chair, a two-hour delay in the floor proceedings, and a cancellation of the evening’s scheduled votes.
The House and the Democrats are in disarray.
Speaker Pelosi was first elected to a post in the Democratic National Committee 43 years ago — before Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, or Omar were born. One would think that many years of experience would count for something. Not in today’s Democratic Party.
Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican, represents Texas’ 21st congressional district.
