Home Speakers Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday that she will not run for re-election as her congressional leader, ending a two-decade streak as the top Democrat in the House of Representatives that has seen she became the first woman to lead the room.
Pelosi, speaking in the House of Representatives, said she would remain a member of Congress and serve until the end of the term she was just elected.
“With absolute confidence in our caucus, I will not seek re-election as Democratic leader in the next Congress,” Pelosi said amid applause during her lengthy speech. 14 minutes.
“For me, it’s time for a new generation to lead the Democratic Congress that I deeply respect,” Pelosi said. “And I’m so grateful that so many people are ready and willing to take on this great responsibility.”
The announcement came a day after news outlets predicted that Democrats will almost lose their House majority to Republicans after the midterm elections.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, speaks in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on Thursday, November 17, 2022.
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Pelosi, 82, has kept her future plans private after the midterm elections, when Democrats exceeded expectations in the vote. Republicans, who predict a “red wave” will give them an overwhelming majority in Congress, will instead have a slim lead in the House, NBC News estimates.
Pelosi has also said that a recent attack on her husband, Paul Pelosi, by a house intruder with a hammer will influence her decision on whether to continue to lead or not.
Current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is considered a leading candidate to be the speaker in the next Congress. On Tuesday, McCarthy won a party vote to be the GOP candidate for speaker, though he won fewer votes than the 218 he would need when the entire House of Representatives votes. leadership votes in early January.
Much remains unclear about how the change in House leadership will shake the top ranks of Democrats. House of Representatives Steny Hoyer, D-Md., has served under Pelosi for years – but the 83-year-old announced late Thursday that he would also decline to seek a top role.
“I have decided not to seek elected leadership in the 118th Congress,” Hoyer said in a letter shared by his office. Like Pelosi, Hoyer said he plans to continue serving in Congress “and return to the Appropriations Committee as a member to complete the work I’ve been on for years.”
Meanwhile, Democrats are looking for younger figures to usher in a new generation of leaders. Hoyer in the letter endorsed 52-year-old Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York as the Democratic leader in the House. “He is a skilled and capable leader who will help us regain our Majority in 2024 as we strive to continue to deliver on our promises to the American people,” Hoyer wrote.
Majority Representative James Clyburn, an influential veteran Democrat from South Carolina, also endorsed Jeffries for Democratic leadership, along with Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Rep. Pete Aguilar of California.
Elected to Congress in 1987, Pelosi became the highest-ranking woman in congressional history in 2002, when she was elected to the House of Representatives following the midterm elections that year. She became the minority leader in the House in 2003, and became speaker of the House after the Democrats regained their majority in 2006.
During her two terms as speaker, Pelosi presided over a long list of important political events and crises, as well as two impeachment proceedings against the then President. Donald Trump. She navigated Congress during the 2008 financial crisis, the tumultuous battle to pass the Affordable Care Act and the trillions of dollars in approval efforts. Coronavirus– related relief funds. More recently, she directed the House to pass the critical infrastructure bill and sweeping legislation known as the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes provisions for taxes and health care.
Pelosi, who famously has a strained relationship with Trump, completely ignored the former president in her speech, even as she highlighted her proudest moments of her presidency. Presidents of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
However, she was explicitly referring to the riot on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 by a violent mob of Trump supporters, whose attack forced lawmakers to leave. from their chambers and temporarily halted efforts to confirm Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
“Yes, American democracy is great, but it is fragile,” Ms. Pelosi said. “Many of us here have witnessed its fragility firsthand – it’s tragic in this room.”
Biden, in an adultery statement shared shortly after Pelosi’s speech, called her “the most important Speaker of the House in our history.”
The president also noted the “decisiveness and determination to defend our democracy” during the riots on Capitol Hill, and appeared to allude to the violent attack on Paul Pelosi, who was hospitalized after an attack at the couple’s home in San Francisco, while Nancy was in Washington, DC
“It’s an ongoing threat of violence and political intimidation, and she and her family know it all too well, but that should never stop her from serving our country,” Biden said in a statement. said. “She may give up her leadership role in the House of Representatives, but she will never give up defending our sacred democracy.”
