House Democrats will vote Thursday to adjust how they operate internally in the 115th Congress, a move that Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi hopes will placate members who complained that the caucus leadership is too closed off from rank and file lawmakers.
Although his bid to replace the 76-year-old Californian as party leader failed Wednesday, her challenger, Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, succeeded in forcing her to accept some of his proposed rule changes, most notably making the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairmanship an elected position.
“I applaud Leader Pelosi for adopting many of the reforms my colleagues and I proposed over the last couple weeks,” Ryan stated Wednesday evening. “These much-needed reforms will provide additional openness, accountability, and inclusiveness that has been missing for too long. For our younger members, Leader Pelosi’s reforms recognize the importance of giving them a voice at the Democratic leadership table.”
Under current rules, Pelosi nominates a chairman and the full caucus ratifies her choice. But the step of nominating someone gives that member the leader’s stamp of approval, making it fruitless for anyone to challenge the pick, Ryan and many of the 63 Democrats who voted for him Wednesday argued.
Pelosi already nominated New Mexico’s Ben Ray Lujan to remain at the helm of the DCCC for the 2018 election cycle. It’s unclear if anyone wants to challenge him for the job of electing Democrats to the House.
“It’s going to open the process to be more inclusive; I encourage that,” Rhode Island’s Jim Langevin said. “We have to do something different,” he added, referring to the drubbing Democrats took at the polls on Election Day.
