With the new balance of power in the US House of Representatives, a generation change is also looming among the Democrats. The leader of the parliamentary chamber, Nancy Pelosi, announced yesterday that she would no longer lead her group.
“For me, it’s time for a new generation to lead the Democratic Group, which I respect so much,” the 82-year-old said at the beginning of a session of the chamber in Washington. But she will remain a member of parliament. After her speech, 83-year-old Steny Hoyer from Pelosi’s team also announced that he would be relinquishing his managerial duties in the future.
Republicans want to investigate Biden
The Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections. The MEPs of the parliamentary group must now choose a new leader who will lead them as a minority in the parliamentary chamber. The Republicans, who now have a very narrow majority in this chamber, announced yesterday that they would use their new power for parliamentary investigations into US President Joe Biden. They can also block legislative initiatives from the White House at will for the next two years.
As chairman of the House of Representatives, Pelosi was previously number three in the state ranking after the US president and his vice president. The US Democrat from California is considered a key liberal figure in American politics – as someone who can organize majorities and capture dissidents. From 2007 to 2011, she was the first woman in the country to hold the office of chairwoman of the chamber, and she has been in this position again since 2019. She has represented her constituency in San Francisco in Washington since 1987.
Assault on Pelosi’s husband
Recently, a brutal attack on Pelosi’s husband Paul shook the heated election campaign in the USA. A few days before the US midterm elections, an attacker broke into the couple’s home in San Francisco. The attack was aimed at Pelosi herself, who was not at home at the time, police later said. For some time, Pelosi has attracted hatred from many right-wingers in the United States. Ex-President Donald Trump had repeatedly referred to the politician as “crazy Nancy”. When the US Capitol was stormed on January 6, 2021, her office was also devastated.
US President Biden recognized Pelosi as the most important leader to ever lead the House of Representatives. During Trump’s presidency from 2017 to 2021, the mother of five and a devout Catholic developed into an important opponent of the right-wing populist. She has also repeatedly taken a clear stand in international politics, and only recently traveled to the island republic because of Taiwan, despite the great tensions between the USA and China.
Pelosi: Must go boldly into the future
In her speech yesterday, Pelosi used emotional words to describe her path through US politics over the past decades – and explained her political legacy. Then she said: “Now we must move boldly into the future: grounded by the principles that have brought us this far and open to new possibilities for the future.” She is grateful that so many are ready and willing to take on “this great responsibility”.
The call for a generation change had recently become louder within the party. Again and again there were MPs from their own ranks who spoke out against Pelosi and called for change and rejuvenation. Critics saw her as a representative of the old guard and called for her to make way for someone younger after so many years in Congress and at the head of her faction. Your successor, however, will have less power. Because he or she will lead the US Democrats as a minority in the House of Representatives – and not as “Speaker of the House”.
