82-year-old Nancy Pelosi on Thursday announced she was stepping down as the leader of the Democrats in the US House of Representatives, a position she held for almost two decades.
This comes as Republicans are expected to regain control of the House following the November midterm elections.
Pelosi was the first woman to serve as speaker of the US House of Representatives and the most powerful woman in Congress.
According to the BBC, She will continue to hold her House seat, which she first assumed in 1987, until January 2025, and will continue to serve her San Francisco,
California district.
Nancy Pelosi, Image:Vanguard
In a statement in the chamber on Thursday, Mrs. Pelosi said the time had come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus in the lower chamber of Congress.
"I never would have thought that someday I would go from homemaker to House speaker.”
“I will not seek re-election to Democratic leadership in the next Congress. The hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus,” she said.
She will hold the position of the speaker until the start of a new Congress in January.
Speaker of the House
The only position in Congress that is specifically mentioned in the US Constitution is Speaker of the House. It is next in line to the presidency after the vice president.
What bills are considered and voted on is decided by the speaker, his deputy, and the chairs of the relevant committees. They pick the topics for discussion and the rules governing debate.
In 2003, Mrs. Pelosi became the minority leader, the post reserved for the person leading the House opposition. She then became the first woman to lead a major party in either chamber of Congress in 2006, when the Democrats regained control of the House for the first time in more than a decade.
Four years later, Mrs. Pelosi took the minority leadership position again, but she didn't return to the speaker post until 2019.
Pelosi as Speaker
As a speaker, Nancy Pelosi was instrumental in furthering or obstructing the plans of several presidents.
She is generally credited with mobilizing for the passage of former President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare law as well as bills to address infrastructure and climate change under current President Joe Biden.
Throughout Donald Trump's administration, Mrs. Pelosi also directly challenged him, at one time tearing up a copy of his State of the Union address behind him.
She received a standing ovation from lawmakers on Thursday as she thanked them for their prayers and spoke of her "beloved partner in life and my pillar of support."
According to the Washington Post, she later said that she has been dealing with "survivor's guilt" ever since the attack last month that left her 82-year-old husband, Paul in need of skull surgery. She said her husband was harmed "because they were looking for me."
Mrs. Pelosi's former chief of staff, John Lawrence told the BBC that now that Democrats were back in the minority, she would be crucial in advising incoming members of Congress and liaising with the White House.
"There's never really a good time to leave," Lawrence said. "When you're in the ascendancy, you want to accomplish a great deal, and when things are going against you, you want to fight back."
US President, Joe Biden in a statement on Thursday described Mrs. Pelosi as "the most consequential speaker of the House of Representatives in our history."
Pelosi's successor
Pelosi did not say who she would support to succeed her after she announced on Thursday that she would stand down from her leadership role.
However, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries of New York is widely expected to succeed Pelosi at the top Democratic leadership position in the House, which will make him the first black congressional leader in US history.
In a letter to his colleagues, Jeffries announced his candidacy for House Democratic leader on Friday, promising to strengthen and defend them as well as increase their numbers, according to CNN.
"Our top non-governmental priority, for the sake of the American people, must be retaking the majority in November 2024," Jeffries wrote.
Jeffries praised the previous administration in his letter on Friday, but he also emphasized that "more must be done to combat inflation, defend our democracy, secure reproductive freedom, welcome new Americans, promote equal protection under the law, and improve public safety throughout this country."
Hakeem Jeffries, Image:CNN
He wrote "we must chart a return to regular order," promising his rank-and-file colleagues that he would give them more influence in the legislative process. Additionally, he stated that in these "dangerous times," Congress must focus on passing bills to "combat crime" for Americans and "significantly enhance the security of all Members and their families."
As a sign of Jeffries' growing influence, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn swiftly endorsed him after announcing their resignations from leadership positions.
"Speaker Pelosi has left an indelible mark on Congress and the country, and I look forward to her continued service and doing whatever I can to assist our new generation of Democratic leaders, which I hope to be Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark, and Peter Aguilar," said.
Jeffries, who is 52, would signal a generational shift from the current Democratic House leaders, who are all three decades older than him. He was the youngest person in leadership when he was elected Democratic caucus chairman in 2019.
Before being elected to the New York State Assembly in 2006, the Brooklyn-born lawyer earned degrees from the State University of New York at Binghamton, Georgetown, and New York University Law School.
Since being elected to Congress for the first time ten years ago, he has served the 8th District of New York. As a House manager, he argued for Trump's impeachment in the first trial.
Jeffries was instrumental in the Trump administration's efforts to pass the First Step Act, a bipartisan initiative to modernize the criminal justice system. In the incumbent Biden administration, Jeffries has continued to influence the party's messaging.
A vote for Pelosi's replacement will be held on November 30.
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