Nancy Pelosi won't be House speaker next year, but she's not retiring from Congress, either. In a speech Thursday to the House, Pelosi told her fellow lawmakers that she would continue to represent her San Francisco constituents but would not seek re-election to a leadership position in the Democratic party, per NPR. Instead, the 82-year-old is expected to remain in what the New York Times describes as "sort of an emeritus role." Meaning, she will act as a "backbencher" providing guidance to the next generation of party leaders, per Puck.
The AP reported that Pelosi went home with two versions of her speech for review Wednesday night, with one option being full retirement. Pelosi was first elected to the House in 1987 and became the first female House speaker in 2007. She was in the role until 2011, and returned to it in 2019 when the Democrats took back the House. She vowed in 2018 that she would only serve four more years in the role, reports the Washington Post, and CNN adds that she said earlier in November that the October attack on her husband would factor in to her decision-making. Whether Pelosi just set off a domino effect in House Democratic leadership ahead of internal party elections next month remains to be seen.
Her leadership team, with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Democratic Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina, has long moved as a triumvirate. Hoyer and Clyburn are also making decisions about their futures; like Pelosi, they are in their 80s. The AP notes that a second younger trio exists in the House: that of Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, and Rep. Pete Aguilar of California. NBC News reports Jeffries, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, "is being urged to pursue the leadership role and has met with rank-and-file members" and agrees the three "have been widely seen to be part of a trio who could embody a new era of leadership." (More Nancy Pelosi stories.)
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