WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) – Nancy Pelosi, the trailblazing Democrat who as the first woman U. S. House of Representatives speaker shepherded landmark legislation and led two impeachments, said on Thursday she will give up her leadership role a day after Republicans secured control of the chamber. Pelosi`s allies quickly rallied around Representative Hakeem Jeffries as her likely successor as the top House Democrat while Republicans prepared to install a speaker from their party who is expected to impede President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda.
An 82-year-old California liberal, Pelosi made her announcement during a speech on the House floor – drawing applause from Democrats even as many Republicans decided not to attend. She said she will not retire from the House but continue to represent San Francisco as she has done for 35 years. And I’m grateful that so many are ready and willing to shoulder this awesome responsibility,” said Pelosi, who has served as the top House Democrat for two decades and speaker from 2007-2011 and again from 2019 until the present. Pelosi played a central role in shepherding the legislative agenda of two Democratic presidents through Congress, even as she was vilified by many conservatives.
Biden in a statement called Pelosi “the most consequential speaker of the House of Representatives in our history. ” Jeffries, of New York, would be the first Black lawmaker to lead one of the major parties’ caucuses in Congress. The No. 2 House Democrat, Steny Hoyer, endorsed Jeffries for the top leadership post and decided not to seek a leadership role in the next Congress.
Following last week’s midterm elections, Republicans on Wednesday finally nailed down a slim majority in the House for the next Congress to be sworn in on Jan. 3 and offered initial support for Kevin McCarthy, who has had chilly relations with Pelosi, to serve as speaker. Republicans said they plan to use their House majority to launch investigations into Biden’s administration and family. U.
S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi discusses future plans on Capitol Hill in Washington U. S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces she will not seek re-election as Speaker on Capitol Hill in Washington [1/6] U.
S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) listens to applause from her House colleagues after she announced that she will remain in Congress but will not run for re-election as Speaker of the House after Republicans were projected to win control of the House of Representatives, on the floor of the House Chamber of the U. S. Capitol in Washington, U.
S. , November 17, 2022. Pelosi, holding a post second in the line of succession to the presidency, delivered a sentimental speech calling the House chamber “sacred ground” and remembering visiting the Capitol for the first time as a child when her father was sworn in as a congressman. She also helped the party to stem its losses during the midterms when Democrats lost fewer seats than expected in the House.
Pelosi had been under pressure over the past few years from younger House Democrats to yield power. Democrats appeared to be lining up for an orderly transition that would see Jeffries as Democratic leader and Representatives Katherine Clark, 59, and Pete Aguilar, 43, filling out the top ranks of leadership.
