Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced Thursday that she would not seek reelection to a leadership position, ending her two-decade stint atop House Democrats’ caucus and opening the door to the biggest leadership shake-up in recent memory.
The change was long coming. Pelosi and her deputies, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC), have led as a triumvirate for 15 years, keeping the Democratic conference unified even with small majorities. Their approach worked well enough that other leading Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Joe Biden, asked Pelosi to consider staying on over the last several weeks, but the winds had changed both politically and personally to the point that she ultimately decided to relinquish the reins.
SNUBBED: NANCY PELOSI’S HOUSE SPEECH SKIPPED BY ALMOST ALL SENIOR REPUBLICAN OFFICIALS
First, there were the two obvious considerations of age and a promise. Pelosi, 82, and her cohort are octogenarians dealing with younger progressives several generations their junior agitating for new blood to take the helm.
During the midterm elections, centrist Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) publicly called for change. Spanberger said that “the Democratic Party needs new leaders in the halls of Capitol Hill” after leadership tabled a bill to ban stock trading. Slotkin said they needed “new blood, period, across the Democratic Party, in the House, the Senate, and the White House,” including more representation for the middle of the country.
Pelosi responded last month, “Yes, we need generational change. Of course we do. But in some cases, there’s no substitute for experience.” That experience includes her fundraising prowess, as the California Democrat has raised $1.25 billion over the 20 years she’s been in leadership.
The opposition echoed grumblings from 2018, when she cut a deal with members of her party who opposed her speakership bid after Democrats took back the House. The informal agreement limited her to two more terms as the top Democrat.
At the time, she said she was “comfortable with the proposal and it is my intention to abide by it whether it passes or not.” Reneging on this promise would have given fodder to her detractors, especially centrists like Spanberger and Slotkin, who were part of the opposition to her speakership in 2018, and the progressive faction that has butted heads with her repeatedly over the last several years.
While her allies say Pelosi has always had the votes to become the Democratic leader, even in 2018, the intraparty tensions have grown more public over time. In 2016, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) even challenged her for the top spot in a failed bid that nonetheless garnered 63 votes from the caucus. The challenge came after a disappointing election for Democrats, in which the party would continue its six-year run in the minority.
The circumstance in 2022 is notably different. The party lost its majority in the House, but Democrats weren’t wallowing. They had outperformed expectations campaigning on abortion rights and warning of former President Donald Trump’s influence over the Republican Party.
Instead of the elections being an indictment of her leadership, with Pelosi stepping down under a red wave that swept her party from office, she was able to exit leadership on a high note and claim that under her watch, Democrats defied the historical odds and forced Republicans to navigate a precarious majority in the lower chamber.
Also weighing on Pelosi’s mind was the home invasion and assault on her husband, Paul Pelosi. She detailed that doctors had to “reshape” his skull and undergo a “pretty serious operation” after the shocking hammer attack by a man allegedly targeting her at their San Francisco home. The couple has been married for nearly 60 years.
“For my dear husband Paul, who has been my beloved partner in life and pillar of support, thank you. We are all grateful for all the prayers and well wishes as he continues his recovery. Thank you so much,” Pelosi said in her House floor speech Thursday, prompting an extended standing ovation.
Biden suggested that the attack was a major consideration for Pelosi on a call in which he congratulated her on Democrats’ electoral wins and urged her to stay on in leadership.
“I hope you stick,” he reportedly said on the call. “I know it’s family first, but I hope you stick.”
A day following her announcement, Pelosi told reporters that the attack actually made her consider staying longer.
“If anything, it made me think about staying,” she insisted, but said ultimately that she couldn’t shake a sense of blame for the incident, adding, “If he had fallen, slipped on the ice, or was in an accident and hurt his head, it would be horrible, but to have it be an assault on him because they were looking for me is really — they call it ‘survivor’s guilt’ or something.”
Pelosi waited to announce her anticipated decision until after it became clear that Republicans would take the majority in the new Congress. Staying on wouldn’t mean staying as speaker of the House, a role that will likely pass to current Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), meaning her influence over the chamber would be scaled back.
Her final decision was to become a rank-and-file member, though due to her experience, she is expected to continue as an unofficial adviser to the new leadership. Hoyer followed her lead, while Clyburn is running for the No. 4 spot.
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is the top contender to replace Pelosi, while Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (D-MA) is running for minority whip and Caucus Vice Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) is vying for caucus chairman.
Democrats expressed optimism about this change. When asked if it seemed like the old guard was overstaying its welcome in a “babysitting” role, Rep. Annie McLane Kuster (D-NH) said, “We have so much left to learn from her. And second of all, I think for Hakeem and then Katherine and Pete, they’re all very close to her and that it’ll be helpful to be able to rely on her wisdom. I don’t think that will happen from launching on their own. They’ll have the positions and they’ll be making the decisions, but they have somebody to turn to.”
Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) told the Washington Examiner on Thursday that the caucus is “lucky that we’ll still be able to benefit from her advice and counsel.”
Even members of the progressive “Squad” that occasionally feuded with Pelosi had positive words for the speaker.
“This is just an incredibly historic day. We have not seen a change like this in Democratic leadership for several decades, and there’s going to be just a lot of unanswered questions,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told reporters Thursday afternoon.
When asked if she was sad to see Pelosi go, Ocasio-Cortez added, “I don’t know if ‘sad’ is the term. I just think that she’s just such a venerated leader, and it was so dignified. … She went on her own terms.”
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Pelosi endorsed Jeffries, Clark, and Aguilar, expressing “pride, gratitude, and confidence in their abilities.” Hoyer has endorsed Jeffries and Clark, and Clyburn has backed all three of the new leaders. A speculated contender, Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), announced that she would seek another term in her current role. The Democratic leadership election will take place on Nov. 30.
“I, quite frankly, personally, have been ready to leave for a while,” Pelosi told reporters Friday. “Because there are things I want to do. I like to dance; I like to sing. There’s a life out there, right?”
