Pelosi not seeking re-election

‘Hour has come for a new generation to lead Democratic caucus’

Washington: Nancy Pelosi (pic), the trailblazing first woman to wield the speaker’s gavel in the US House of Representatives, said she will 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,” 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.

Democratic President Joe Biden hailed Pelosi as a “fierce defender of democracy” and the “most consequential” House speaker in US 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,” Biden said in a statement.

“History will also note her fierceness and resolve to protect our democracy from the violent, deadly insurrection of Jan 6, when supporters of former president Donald Trump attacked the US Capitol,” he said. Elected to Congress in 1987, Pelosi became speaker in 2007, the first and so far only woman ever to hold the powerful post. Known for keeping a tight grip on party ranks, she presided over both impeachments of Trump during her second stint in the role.

Currently second in the presidential line of succession, after Vice-president Kamala Harris, Pelosi said last week that a decision on her future would be influenced by the brutal attack on her husband.

Paul Pelosi, who is also 82, was left hospitalised with serious injuries after an intruder looking for the speaker broke into their California home and attacked him with a hammer.

In her speech, which was met with a standing ovation from Democratic lawmakers, Pelosi recounted her first glimpse of the Capitol when she was six years old and her path from “homemaker to House speaker”.

She praised her party’s betterthan-expected performance in the midterm contest as a victory for democracy.

“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.