Pelosi confident she can secure backing
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is scrambling to shore up the support she needs to become speaker again, just days after she led her party to retake the chamber for the first time since 2010.
A small but increasingly vocal faction of Democratic defectors say fresh leadership is needed to ensure rank and file members are heard. They claim they have enough Democrats ready to prevent Pelosi — who has led her caucus for 16 years — from regaining the gavel, but they declined to release all their names.
On Thursday, Pelosi brushed off the threat and said she has the votes needed to win the speakership, which will be determined in a January vote on the House floor. She hinted that sexism may be playing a role in the effort, saying that 14 of the 17 lawmakers who have reportedly signed a letter in opposition to her are men.
“You’d have to ask them. If, in fact, there is any misogyny involved in it, it’s their problem, not mine,” Pelosi said. “I enjoy a tremendous amount of support from the women in our caucus, from the new members who are women in our caucus. And so I get the upside, I think, of being a woman.” Pelosi’s critics deny sexism is at play. “This is not about Nancy Pelosi being a woman,” said Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., one of the lawmakers promising to vote no, pointing to some of the newly elected representatives who have also pledged to vote no. “These are all strong intelligent women who … won really difficult races. And they should not be disrespected that way. There are other women to support in this caucus who are perfectly capable of being in leadership.”
Depending on how the final uncalled House races are decided, Pelosi can lose no more than 12 to 19 votes.
“The numbers are extremely close,” said Rep. Gerry Connelly, D-Va., who is backing Pelosi. “I’m concerned about the situation. ... Democrats being Democrats, we like a good fight. We just wouldn’t be Democrats without some drama.”
Pelosi has faced rebellion in the Democratic ranks before and always managed to emerge on top. But this time the struggle could be more difficult.
So far no one has declared their intention to directly challenge Pelosi. But Rep. Marcia Fudge, D- Ohio, said she is considering it.
According to a tally of public comments, 12 newly elected members have pledged to vote against Pelosi in the speaker’s race, which will be decided as the first vote in the new Congress in January. Some have made ironclad promises to oppose her under “any circumstances” and others have made less strident promises. Another dozen incumbents are expected to vote no, according to public statements and sources whipping against Pelosi.
But it is unclear whether that opposition will hold and if it is actually enough to deny her the speakership.
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., is one of several lawmakers gathering signatures on the letter of opposition, which he hopes will convince Pelosi to step aside and allow new Democrats to assume leadership roles.