Pelosi Steps Down from Leadership, Will Continue Serving in Congress
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday she will step down from her leadership role after two decades in the post.
“I will not seek re-election to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” Pelosi said. The first female speaker added that she will continue to represent the people in San Francisco in the House.
The California lawmaker will relinquish her position as head of the Democratic caucus, which she’s held for 19 years, to make way for a “new generation to lead.”
With her leadership still in high demand in her party, Pelosi will likely help manage her successor’s transition as an informal coach, Punchbowl News reported. She is expected to become a de-facto custodian of Democratic power in the chamber while the party adjusts to minority status.
It was anticipated that Pelosi would update the public about her plans for her political career after House control flipped to the GOP on Wednesday evening with Representative Mike Garcia’s win in California’s 27th district.
“Speaker Pelosi has been overwhelmed by calls from colleagues, friends and supporters,” her Deputy Chief of Staff Drew Hammill said late Wednesday.
More than a week after Election Day, Garcia’s win guaranteed the GOP 218 seats, solidifying the party’s ability to check President Biden’s agenda for the remaining two years of his term. However, the GOP’s seat advantage will likely be in the single digits.
“This evening, the Speaker monitored returns in the three remaining critical states. The Speaker plans to address her future plans tomorrow to her colleagues. Stay tuned,” Hammill said.
The political veteran reportedly took home two versions of a speech Wednesday night, according to Punchbowl News.
“In the next Congress, House Democrats will continue to play a leading role in supporting President Biden’s agenda — with strong leverage over a scant Republican majority,” Pelosi said in a statement Wednesday.
Earlier this month, Pelosi said the brutal attack on her husband, Paul Pelosi, was weighing on her as she deliberated whether or not to retire. In October, a conspiracy theorist maniac “violently assaulted” Paul Pelosi, leaving him with a head injury that required emergency surgery. The lunatic demanded to know the whereabouts of the Democratic House speaker after breaking into the couple’s San Francisco home.
“I have to say my decision will be affected about what happened the last week or two,” the first female Speaker told CNN.
Pelosi detailed how police broke the news of the traumatic incident to her in the early hours of the morning when she was thousands of miles away from her California residence. Immediately, she worried that her children or grandchildren had been harmed.
“I was sleeping in Washington, D.C., I had just gotten in the night before from San Francisco, and I hear the doorbell ring and think, it’s five something, I look up I see it’s five, it must be the wrong apartment. No. It rings again and then bang, bang, bang, bang, bang on the door,” she told CNN.
