Pelosi to wave farewell
WASHINGTON: Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the trailblazing first female speaker of the US House of Representatives, said she would step down as party leader when Republicans take control of the chamber in January.
“I will not seek re-election to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” Ms Pelosi said in an emotional speech on the House floor. “The hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus.”
The 82-year-old Pelosi’s departure from party leadership marks the end of an era in Washington and comes after Republicans secured a slim House majority in last week’s midterm elections. Democrats retained Senate control.
Democratic President Joe Biden hailed Ms Pelosi as a “fierce defender of democracy” and the “most consequential Speaker of the House of Representatives in our history”.
“Because of Nancy Pelosi, the lives of millions and millions of Americans are better, even in districts represented by Republicans who voted against her bills and too often vilify her,” Mr Biden said.
Elected in 1987, Ms Pelosi first became speaker in 2007. Known for keeping a tight grip on party ranks, she presided over both impeachments of former president Donald Trump. Currently second in the line of succession, after Vice President Kamala Harris, Ms Pelosi said last week a decision on her future would be influenced by the attack on her husband in the run-up to the November 8 midterms.
Paul Pelosi, who is also 82, was left hospitalised with serious injuries after an intruder broke into their California home and attacked him with a hammer. Ms Pelosi said she would continue to represent her San Francisco district in the next Congress and praised Democrats’ better-than-expected performance in the midterm contest.
“Last week, the American people spoke and their voices were raised in defence of liberty, of the rule of law and of democracy itself,” she said. “The people stood in the breach and repelled the assault on democracy.”
With Ms Pelosi stepping down from leadership, and fellow octogenarians Steny Hoyer and James Clyburn, the number two and three Democrats, signalling they will do the same, the party is on the cusp of a generational shift in power.
New York politician Hakeem Jeffries, 52, who is expected to become Democratic minority leader in the next House, called Ms Pelosi the “G.O.A.T” – a sports reference to the Greatest Of All Time.
Her announcement met with a far different reaction on the Republican side. “The Pelosi era is over. Good riddance!” tweeted Colorado politician Lauren Boebert.
Kevin McCarthy, a 57-yearold Republican politician from California, is lobbying to take over the speaker’s gavel from Ms Pelosi in the Republican majority House. He won a party leadership vote by secret ballot on Tuesday.
House Republicans signalled they would wield their new power to make the President’s life more difficult – announcing plans to investigate Mr Biden and business connections of his family, particularly those of his son Hunter.