Uncertainty over both parties’ leadership envelopes House

WASHINGTON — The House returns from its Fourth of July recess this week in a state of remarkable uncertainty, with both Democrats and Republicans facing open questions about their leaders’ futures and neither party certain of which will be in control after November’s elections.

“Sometimes things have to be torn down before they can be built back up,” said Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y. “And I think we are in the tearing-down phase, at least in the House.”

For Democrats, the loss in a primary last month of a popular lawmaker seen as a potential House speaker has injected fresh uncertainty into an inevitable and messy struggle over control of the caucus.

In some quarters, simmering frustration with their longtime leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, 78, has given way to whisper campaigns among potential challengers and public calls for the passing of the baton to a younger generation. Her top lieutenant and longtime rival, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, 79, checked into a Washington hospital with pneumonia last week, underscoring the concerns among some in the party about the age of the current leadership.

With the retirement of Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin at the end of the year, Republicans face their own fight for control. The embarrassing rout of “compromise” immigration legislation last month resurfaced concerns that Ryan’s power may be waning. And while the party has a clearer order of succession, it remains to be seen if Rep. Kevin Mccarthy of California, the majority leader, can consolidate the support to replace Ryan.