Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) mentioned this week that she helps the push for youthful Democrats to interchange veteran lawmakers on the high of committees — however there may be a minimum of one obvious exception to the rule.
In an interview with the Nationwide Catholic Reporter, Pelosi advised seniority shouldn’t be paramount with regards to Democrats selecting committee heads, endorsing the generational change of management on the panel degree — a modest however much-discussed transition — that’s occurred within the month since voters gave all energy in Washington to Republicans.
“I am supporting the newer members who’re operating for workplace,” Pelosi told NCR. “That is with all of the respect on the earth for the chairmen who had been there and the contribution that that they had revamped time. However now others have come ahead, and I respect the truth that they’re able to take cost of their committees, and I help that.”
The feedback arrive simply days after Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), an eight-year veteran, pushed Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who has 34 years of Home expertise, out of the highest Democratic seat on the highly effective Judiciary Committee — a shock takeover that was reportedly inspired by Pelosi.
But in one other contest of generational rivals, Pelosi has advised she’ll help the extra senior member. That race pits Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a 16-year Home veteran, in opposition to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), first elected in 2018, to interchange Raskin as the highest Democrat on the Oversight and Accountability Committee. Pelosi not too long ago instructed Politico that she needs Connolly in that seat.
“I have supported Mr. Connolly for that, should it be open,” she instructed Politico.
The distinction highlights a pattern that’s outlined Pelosi’s strategy to committee assignments all through her lengthy tenure on Capitol Hill, and notably throughout her 20 years as the highest Home Democrat. Whereas Pelosi has largely endorsed the primacy of seniority in deciding committee management — an concept that helped her win and keep the backing of the Congressional Black Caucus, whose members have ascended to the highest of key committees — she’s additionally damaged sharply from that custom on high-profile events.
In 2008, as an illustration, Pelosi helped to orchestrate Henry Waxman’s (D-Calif.) exceptional takedown of John Dingell (D-Mich.) as head of the Vitality and Commerce Committee. Dingell had been the highest Democrat on the highly effective panel for many years, however Waxman was the extra liberal lawmaker — one higher poised to deal with points like local weather change, within the eyes of liberals like Pelosi.
Pelosi additionally took the exceptional step in 2014 of endorsing Rep. Anna Eshoo, a fellow California Democrat, in a contest in opposition to the extra senior Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) for the highest Democratic seat on Vitality and Commerce. Pallone prevailed, however Pelosi’s energetic lobbying for Eshoo revealed that seniority was not Pelosi’s chief criterion in her strategy to committee heads.
The problem of seniority — and longevity — is a fraught matter within the Democratic Occasion, the place President Biden was pushed out of a reelection bid by social gathering leaders, together with Pelosi, who had considerations that he lacked the stamina and psychological acuity for one more time period.
Pelosi herself has been a topic of comparable discussions for years, as a youthful crop of Democrats had sought — unsuccessfully — to take away her from the highest spot amongst Home Democrats. In 2022, after Republicans seized management of the decrease chamber, Pelosi stepped down voluntarily, paving the way in which for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and his next-generation deputies to take the reins of the Caucus.
