Capitol Hill is obsessed with the possibility of a coup inside the House Democratic Caucus, but Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi hasn’t flinched. And history shows that her opponents don’t last long.
Rep. Steven Lynch is the latest to defect. The Massachusetts Democrat had vowed to oppose Pelosi, signing a letter with 15 other Democrats promising to vote against her. He even held out for a couple weeks. Not any more.
“From our conversations, I believe Leader Pelosi understands not only the job that needs to be done, but also how to bring disparate voices in our party together to make good things happen for the people we represent,” Lynch said in a statement on Friday. “I’m happy to be supporting her and look forward to the upcoming session.”
This is a significant blow to the “Never Nancy” movement. Pelosi can lose as many as 16 Democrats’ votes and still become speaker. She easily won the majority she needed to clinch her party’s nomination in a closed-door secret ballot caucus vote, though 32 voted against her and three left their ballots blank.
Pelosi already convinced Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, to abandon a challenge by giving her the chairmanship of the newly reinstated House Administrations Subcommittee on Elections. Perhaps she made a deal with Lynch, too. Or perhaps she threatened to assist a primary opponent, or pull Lynch’s committee assignments on Financial Services and Oversight.
Whether it was the carrot or the stick for Lynch, Pelosi is easily storming through the barricades. Unless her opponents can find a new candidate to challenge her on the floor, which is unlikely, or are willing to vote for a Republican, which would be political suicide, it seems time to bail out.
