U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.Photo: SCOTT APPLEWHITE/POOL/AFP via Getty
As her party faces the prospect of losing control of the House of Representatives in November’s midterm elections, SpeakerNancy Pelosiis expressing hope for her own re-election — and staying mum about the future after that.
She continued: “As we say, we don’t agonize, we organize, and that is why I am running for re-election to Congress and respectfully seek your support.”
With the Democrats' majority potentially hanging in the balance, it’s unclear if Pelosi plans to another term as speaker should her party remain in party.
At 81, she is one of the longest-serving lawmakers in Congress, which she first joined in 1987 following a special election in San Francisco.
Since first assuming the speakership in 2007 — the first woman to do so — she has become increasingly key to the Democrats' legislative agenda, helping marshal through bills like the Affordable Care Act and, more recently, a bipartisan funding proposal for infrastructure.
That profile, her California-liberal roots and outspoken criticism of PresidentsGeorge W. BushandDonald Trumpalso made her a favored target among conservatives. (“An incompetent political hack!” Trump once tweeted about her.)
An election win in 2022 would precede an 18th full term for Pelosi, who held the speaker’s gavel from 2007 until Republicans retook the House majority in 2011; she returned to the leadership role after the 2018 midterms. She’s the only woman to hold the position, the third highest-ranking role in the government.
Pelosi’s longevity has lately fueled disapproval among some of her Democratic colleagues who would like to see new faces in leadership; others have said she is weighted with too much stigma from years of Republican criticism.
In 2018, she agreed to only serve two more terms in the role, raising questions about what her re-election might mean for House leadership.
As speaker, Pelosi oversaw both of Trump’s impeachment trials.
She again called for his removal from office following the deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol last January,telling60 Minutesthat he was “a deranged, unhinged, dangerous” person.
Speaking to members of Congress as she gavelled the House into session during the second trial, Pelosi said: “We know that the president of the United States incited this insurrection. He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
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Pelosi is one of a small number of seasoned lawmakers in the House — including 82-year-old Steny Hoyer and 81-year-oldJim Clyburn— to announce they would seek re-election.
source: people.com
