Nancy Pelosi is wrapping up a long career of congressional leadership in which she became the only woman to serve in the powerful post of US House of Representatives speaker.
The 82-year-old liberal from California, announced on Thursday during a speech on the House floor that she would give up her House leadership role but remain in Congress, representing San Francisco as she has done since 1987.
Pelosi, whose move follows her party’s loss of control of the House to Republicans in last week’s mid-term elections, served two stints in the legislator as Speaker.
She was the highest-ranking and most-powerful elected woman in US history until Kamala Harris became vice president in January 2021, and embraced the historic nature of her speakership.
“For our daughters and our granddaughters today, we have broken the marble ceiling. For our daughters and our granddaughters, now the sky is the limit,” Pelosi said after first becoming speaker in 2007.
She presided over the House as it twice impeached Trump – although he was acquitted by the Senate both times – and warned of the imminent threat she said the businessman-turned-politician posed to American democracy. In 2020, Pelosi publicly ripped up a copy of Trump’s final State of the Union address as she sat behind him in the House chamber.
She played a major role in advancing the policy agendas of Democrats Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden and at times blocking those of Republicans George W. Bush and Trump.
Thank you, Madam @SpeakerPelosi, for your continued commitment to protecting democracy and fighting #ForThePeople.
Your era of leadership is incomparable, and your impact on our nation’s history is second to none. pic.twitter.com/778nexb7cI
— House Democrats (@HouseDemocrats) November 17, 2022
“Healthcare under President Obama became our big issue and that will be the biggest thing that I’ve ever done in Congress,” Pelosi told a small group of reporters after announcing her decision, referring to the 2010 Affordable Care Act, a law dubbed Obamacare, that enabled millions of previously uninsured Americans to obtain medical coverage.
During Biden’s presidency, Pelosi led the House in passing covid-19 pandemic-related relief legislation, an infrastructure overhaul, the first federal gun legislation in decades and major climate legislation.
When I think of Nancy Pelosi, I think of dignity.
History will note her as the most consequential Speaker of the House of Representatives in history – she is first, last, and always for the people. America owes her a debt of gratitude for her service, patriotism, and dignity. pic.twitter.com/U2xvEVC1E5
— President Biden (@POTUS) November 17, 2022
She was widely criticised by conservatives. Her office was among those which were looted when a mob of civilians who were allegedly Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, with some chanting “We want Nancy”.
On 28 October 2022, an assailant entered her San Francisco home and used a hammer to attack her 82-year-old husband Paul Pelosi, who is expected to make a full recovery from a skull fracture.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi will go down as one of most accomplished legislators in American history—breaking barriers, opening doors for others, and working every day to serve the American people. I couldn’t be more grateful for her friendship and leadership. pic.twitter.com/zRYtKXVX88
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 17, 2022
On Friday US congressman, Hakeem Jeffries, formally launched a bid to become the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives. The 52 year old Jeffries has been in congress since 2012 and previously served in the New York state legislature. If he wins the 30 November House Democratic leadership election, he would become the first black lawmaker to head a party caucus in US congress.
