Faction Against Pelosi Grows: 10 Dems Intend To Vote Against Her For Speaker

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 07: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds a news conference following the 2018 midterm elections at the Capitol Building on November 7, 2018 in Washington, DC. Republicans kept the... WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 07: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds a news conference following the 2018 midterm elections at the Capitol Building on November 7, 2018 in Washington, DC. Republicans kept the Senate majority but lost control of the House to the Democrats. (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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At least 10 Democrats who are either incumbents or joining the House in January plan to vote against House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-VA) in her bid for speaker now that Democrats have won back control of the House, Politico reported.

The eight sitting lawmakers who have told Politico they intend to vote against Pelosi are: Reps. Ed Perlmutter (CO), Kathleen Rice (NY), Seth Moulton (MA), Bill Foster (IL), Tim Ryan (OH), Filemon Vela (TX), Kurt Schrader (OR) and Connor Lamb (PA). The campaigns for Reps.-Elect Abigail Spanberger, who bested Rep. Dave Brat (R) in Virginia, and Jason Crow, who beat incumbent Mike Coffman in Colorado, also told Politico the two would oppose her speakership campaign.

Despite the growing faction, Pelosi remains optimistic about her fate and has even earned a befuddling endorsement from President Donald Trump, who’s defended her claim to the speakership at least twice this week.

During an interview with CNN on Thursday evening, Pelosi told Chris Cuomo she is “a hundred percent” confident she’ll be the next speaker.

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Notable Replies

  1. Every single one of the dissenters is either a flea weight, or a new congressperson who thinks they have to placate fragile constituency. Absent other evidence, none of this is a substantive challenge.

  2. Good. We need a younger, savvier communcator for speaker. Someone who can speak to those who voted twice for Obama but then fell under Trump’s demagogic spell.

  3. You said exactly what I was going to say. Tim Ryan seems to run against her every time and loses every time. This House is going to face massive issues that will be daunting and it’s NO time for people who don’t have enough experience to deal with the future problems coming up. (Not to mention that fact that there are no people of color in that list of wannabes). We’ll see what the remainder of the House thinks of this.

  4. We can call them names but they’re doing what they told their constituents they would do if elected.

     

    Absent other evidence, none of this is a substantive challenge.

    It is a bit of a problem.

    As I said elsewhere:

    [The] thing is, to be elected Speaker, traditionally you need a majority of at least 218 votes.

    Suppose we have 230 Democrats in the House. If just 13 of them withhold support for Pelosi, they can, at a minimum, extract concessions or embarrass her by denying her a first-ballot victory.

    In other words, what she’s trying to lock down right now is more than just a simple majority of Democratic votes.

    Trump, of course, has said he’ll get her some Republican votes if she needs them. You can evaluate his motivation separately from his ability to deliver.

  5. Who is savvier than Pelosi? She’s tons smarter than McConnell… or Schumer.
    I think Schumer has been awful, for many reasons, but I want Pelosi as Speaker, to grind out every advantage the Dems now possess.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

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