Dems Defeat Pelosi’s Pick For Powerful Energy & Commerce Seat

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014, the day after President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s choice for a powerful committee position was defeated by the Democratic conference on Wednesday, a rare intra-party setback for the Californian.

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) won in a 100-90 caucus vote to be ranking member of the Energy & Commerce Committee, according to two Democrats in the room.

He defeated Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), a close Pelosi ally who won the steering committee vote for the position by a 30-19 margin one day earlier.

Pallone was next in line for the position, with Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) retiring in January. But Pelosi had been pushing for months to help Eshoo leapfrog the New Jersey Democrat. On November 10, she wrote a “Dear Colleague” letter endorsing Eshoo and urging Democrats to back her for the job.

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