Pelosi May Face Her Own Resistance as She Vies to Become Speaker Again
She cannot afford too many deflections.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wants to become Speaker of the House again, but quite a few Democrats in the House do not want her to become their leader.
Eight representatives have already voiced their opposition while two more that won on Tuesday said on the campaign trail that they will oppose her .
These 10 people do not want Pelosi:
- Rep.-Elect Jason Crow (CO)
- Rep. Bill Foster (IL)
- Rep. Conor Lamb (PA)
- Rep. Seth Moulton (MA)
- Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO)
- Rep. Kathleen Rice (NY)
- Rep. Tim Ryan (OH)
- Rep.-Elect Abigail Spanberger (VA)
- Rep. Filemon Vela (TX)
Reps. Jim Cooper (TN) and Ron Kind (WI) voted against Pelosi in 2016 to become Minority Leader, but so far they have not joined this resistance. Pelosi gained three supporters who criticized her: Reps. Robin Kelly (IL), Albio Sires (NJ), and Sean Patrick Maloney (NY).
From Politico:
It’s going to be close at the very least: Without every race decided, Democrats have picked up 31 seats in the midterm elections for a total of 226, meaning Pelosi can lose eight votes on the House floor. However, Democratic leaders believe they’ll net another half-dozen seats that have yet to be formally called, meaning Pelosi could lose up to 14 members.
Meanwhile, the anti-Pelosi faction — whom some have dubbed the “revolutionaries” or the “rebels” — are working to grow their numbers. Eight of them joined an hour-long conference call Wednesday night to discuss strategy and messaging. They’ve divvied up the names of just-elected candidates who have called for “new leadership” and are reaching out to encourage them to vote against Pelosi on the floor.
These members’ pitch to incoming lawmakers is this: You’re not alone.
The Pelosi critics are arguing that they may be able to deliver as many as a dozen incumbents to vote against Pelosi on the floor, and that they could be successful in ousting her should these incoming freshmen join forces.
It doesn’t help that these resistance members cannot decide on who should challenge Pelosi. Ryan challenged Pelosi two years ago, but he hasn’t offered himself as a challenger this year. He has left the door open, though.
The calendar doesn’t help the opposition either. Leadership elections will take place on November 28, which means these members “have only five legislative days beforehand to drum up opposition, and three of those are partial days when members are frequently traveling.”
The representatives also discussed ways to support new Democrat members:
Instead, they are focusing on how to best support new members — who are set to arrive in Washington next week to start their orientation process — and help them stand up to an expected onslaught of lobbying.
“The bottom line is, they won tough races in tough districts,” Ryan said Thursday. “It’s about building a long-term durable majority, and that starts with protecting these members. . . . Being in the majority is a thousand times better, and we want to keep it this way.”
What they will be up against is the rest of the Democratic caucus, ranging from veteran lawmakers who will soon be holding committee gavels to junior members who have secured positions of prominence due to Pelosi, not to mention a lobbying infrastructure that is invested in maintaining the current leadership.
I’m not getting hopes up, but it’s nice to see some people in the Democrat Party speak up against Pelosi.
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Comments
No worries. She is the perfect speaker for the Republicans. Trump has offered her Republican votes if she meets with any trouble.
Nancy will be the perfect foil – a gift that keeps on giving. Ms Malapropism.
Nothing could drive Independents to the Republican Party faster than the Nancy and Maxine Show. Through in a pinch of Shifty Schiff and its perfect.
She strikes me as a mean, vindictive, condescending and angry woman. She never smiles.
Hey dude, I think its all that Botox that keeps her from smiling.
That’s why I want her to be the face of the Democrat party.
By the end of the Speaker election, someone will be a proven liar.
Republicans should unite behind her as Speaker.
She’s gold for Republicans in 2020.
The Democrats are basically deciding now whether they want to go on a spending spree with the dividends of the swollen treasury Trump boom, or whether they want to try to bog down Trump with endless investigations.
That’s what is really being decided now. In Washington, personell is policy.
Mary,
That’s a clever sub headline!
After the dissenters are taken to the little room where Nan is sitting in the only chair in the room and told that if the newbie has any idea of getting on a meaningful committee or asking for any kind of re-election help then they had better vote for her. The most violent threat is to “Primary” the dissenter with another Dem. Believe me, there will be no dissenters from the newbie crowd unless Nan has already sewed up the speaker’s role. Then she will allow them to dissent because they “Promised” their constituents.
With that rat sessions out, the new AG should be looking into both pelosi’s and feinstein’s deal$ using their family businesses to fleece the government in billions for their personal gain.
Its about damn time.