Nancy Pelosi plans to stay in Congress; speakership remains in question | Reuters
Nancy Pelosi plans to stay in Congress; speakership remains in question
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – House Democratic leaders have said they will not run for Speaker of the House of Representatives in next year’s elections despite their failure to topple the current occupant, Representative Nancy Pelosi.
Asked in an interview on Sunday about speculation that she would replace House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer, Pelosi said: “I’m not at that point in my life. We need to make sure we have strong leadership in the House.”
Pelosi made no mention of her political future, but she said the Democrats and Republicans had divergent priorities: “We’re going to have to work together to get them to understand that we have to raise the minimum wage. We have to make sure that every kid in America has access to quality healthcare. We have to make sure that we get paid for that oil that we get from the Middle East.”
Asked whether she had considered stepping down or moving from her Los Angeles district, which she has represented in Congress since 1995, she said: “I really don’t know where I’m going. I haven’t thought about it, and I don’t know whether that would be my preference.”
Democratic House leaders, including Pelosi and Representative Steny Hoyer, who is now expected to retire at the end of this Congress, have been grappling with how to fill the leadership void created by the two-term retirement of President Bill Clinton, who ended an 18-year run of Democratic rule on Thursday.
Pelosi is viewed by some in the party as a more moderate figure than Hoyer, whose views are more liberal on certain issues, including gun control and immigration.
But Democratic sources said a “big” challenge for Pelosi will be convincing Republicans in the House and Senate of the wisdom of her position on the issue of impeachment. Pelosi has made clear she has no intention of recommending an impeachment against President Donald Trump.
The Democrats are not united on the topic of impeachment, but some members of the party want to pursue an investigation with the goal of getting to the truth of whether Trump obstructed justice in firing his FBI Director James Comey and, if so, determining whether that is a crime.
A spokeswoman for Pelosi said in response to the questions about impeachment: “No