House Speaker Nancy Pelosi once described herself as a “master legislator.” Her critics have called that reputation into question after divisions within her own caucus left her unable to bring key portions of the president’s legislative agenda up for a planned vote last week.
Pelosi planned last Thursday to pass a bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure package that is a cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda. But, she was unable to do so when the party’s progressive faction threatened to defeat it unless their demands were met on a sweeping $3.5 trillion social spending bill.
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Biden himself even visited Capitol Hill on Friday to help Pelosi save his agenda, but he left without striking a compromise between progressive and centrist Democrats.
Pelosi’s Republican critics characterized the speaker as a hostage to the left flank of her party.
Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana, chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, told the Washington Examiner that “it’s not surprising that Biden doesn’t hold much sway among House Democrats, but last week didn’t go so well for Speaker Pelosi either.”
“Speaker Pelosi held on to power for so many years by changing with the tide instead of fighting it, but recently the Democrat Party has swung so hard left, even Pelosi is overwhelmed,” Banks said.
Pelosi, who has led her conference for nearly two decades and is the only woman in U.S. history to serve as speaker of the House, is both a top fundraiser and legislative strategist for congressional Democrats. She is widely credited with bringing about the passage of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, in 2010, among other legislative victories for the party.
In a 2018 interview with the Washington Post, Pelosi said, “I am a master legislator. I just love it.”
“I consider myself a weaver like I have a loom. And I bring all these different threads together,” she added.
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Last week, before deciding against bringing the infrastructure bill up for a vote, Pelosi said the two bills that made up a key portion of Biden’s agenda would be “a culmination of my service in Congress.”
A spokesperson for Pelosi did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the impact of the legislation on the speaker’s legislative reputation and future legacy.
