Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was nominated for speaker of the House on Wednesday in a closed-door meeting with the caucus.
The nomination is the first of two steps needed for her to reclaim the leadership position when Democrats take back control of the House in January 2019 and was a critical test of her leadership as she faced calls from a small, but vocal fraction of Democratic congressmen and congressmen-elect to step aside and allow a new generation of leadership to prevail. Pelosi was nominated with 32 Democrats voting no.
A cohort of House Democrats began circulating a letter in mid-November in an effort to block the California congresswoman from winning the position — the letter was eventually signed by 16 Democratic representatives, citing the need for a new direction within the Democratic Party.
The full House of Representatives will hold a final floor vote to elect the speaker after the new year. If Democrats win the two of the three House races yet to be called after the midterm elections, two of which their candidates are leading, they will hold 235 seats, meaning Pelosi could afford to lose just 17 Democratic votes if all Republicans oppose her in January as expected. The 32 that opposed her nomination may not go quietly into that good night.
“We met with Leader Pelosi and tried to engage her in a reasonable conversation about leadership transition. Unfortunately, our concerns were dismissed outright,” said Kathleen Rice (D-NY). “We remain united behind our goal of new leadership and we intend to vote against Leader Pelosi in Caucus and on the Floor of the House.”
But, Pelosi has plenty of time to trade position and favors with the 32 dissenters and if there is one thing she’s good at, it’s backroom dealing.
