Free Republic

by Brian Hayes What is wrong with Nancy Pelosi?The House Speaker held a public bill signing on Thursday, and during her remarks, she wished reporters a “Happy Thanksgiving.” It was Valentine’s Day. She was a mere 84 days late. Watch:

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement after the Department of Labor issued its December jobs statement:  “The December jobs statement contains some positive news, yet these gains threaten to slip away because of the Trump Shutdown.  A staggering 800,000 hard-working Americans are at risk of losing their paychecks, because the President insists on senselessly holding the American people hostage to his unpopular, ineffective, immoral and expensive border wall.

WASHINGTON ― After quashing a small revolt in her own caucus around Thanksgiving, Nancy Pelosi reclaimed the House speakership Thursday, becoming the first politician in 58 years to take back the gavel. Pelosi was elected 220-192, with 12 Democrats voting for someone other than the California Democrat and three voting simply “present.”

On Jan. 3 2019, current House Speaker Paul Ryan gets to retire at the ripe old age of 48, but don't worry, as an entrenched Washington D.C. politician, we won't be done with him at that point. He has many years of lobbying for six or seven figure salaries ahead of him until he is inevitably recycled by the GOP establishment to do what he does best: undermine and sabotage the 'America First' agenda of President Donald Trump. Ryan has done such a poor job that it has become impossible for even the paid sycophants of Conservative Inc. to whitewash...

It's no secret that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) is facing a challenging bid for her former post as Speak of the House. The icing on the cake though? She thinks that it's time for her Democratic colleagues to come together and unite over her potential speakership.On Friday, Pelosi sent a letter to her Democratic colleagues, urging them to "support the nominee of our Caucus for Speaker on the Floor of the House." The Democratic Party's rules require members to vote for whoever the nominee is.Here's a copy of the letter (emphasis mine): November 23, 2018Dear Democratic Colleague and...

A band of Democrats who are demanding House rule reforms have yet to reach a deal with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the group announced Friday, putting up a potential roadblock in Pelosi’s quest to reclaim the Speaker’s gavel. Nine Democrats on the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus have vowed to withhold their votes for Speaker unless the candidate agrees to overhaul the House rules. Pelosi, who has been open to such changes, met with the group last week and promised to put in writing the changes to which she would commit. But the Democrats say they have yet to receive...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is in Nancy Pelosi’s corner. The 29-year-old progressive star, who will become the youngest member of Congress, criticized a letter signed by 16 Democrats calling for new leadership and announcing they will not vote for Pelosi as House speaker. “When I was reading this letter that was kind of released today, my main concern was that there is no vision, there is no common value, there is no goal that is really articulated in this letter aside from ‘We need to change,’” Ocasio-Cortez said on MSNBC on Monday evening.

**SNIP** Fudge, a former CBC chair and mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, who has served in Congress since 2008, said in an interview with HuffPost that Pelosi “has been a very good leader” but believes “it’s time for a new one.” She also told the website that she believes Pelosi hasn’t been as strong enough of an advocate for African-Americans in Congress. Fudge’s potential bid has split members of the Congressional Black Caucus, some of whom had privately encouraged Clyburn and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, a rising star who is running for a lower level leadership position, to...

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said Wednesday that a congresswoman besides Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) should be the House Speaker. “There’s plenty of really competent females that we can replace her with,” Ryan told reporters, before listing people such as Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) as potential candidates, The New York Times reported Thursday. His comments come as the battle for Democratic leadership in the House intensifies. Pelosi, who held the Speaker position from 2007 to 2011, expressed confidence on Thursday that she had enough support to be voted into the role. But many lawmakers are insistent about the idea of having...

**SNIP** Ms. Fudge is thinking about challenging Mrs. Pelosi, said Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn (D., S.C.), who spoke with the Ohioan on Thursday. Mr. Clyburn, the top-ranking black lawmaker in the House, said he didn’t encourage or discourage Ms. Fudge, who is also black, to run. Both are members of the influential Congressional Black Caucus, whose ranks include about 45 House Democrats. A representative for Ms. Fudge didn’t respond to requests for an interview. She told Cleveland.com, her hometown news outlet, on Wednesday that she was giving it some thought. “I am at the very beginning of this process,”...

The anti-Pelosi insurgents are coalescing around a new strategy in their quest to deny Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) the Speaker's gavel: recruit a woman to run against her. The shift in approach comes as the rebellious group has been faced with a barrage of criticism for trying to take down Pelosi, who became the first female Speaker of the House in 2007, on the heels of an election cycle being dubbed the "Year of the Woman." Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), one Pelosi detractor, hammered the argument that the California Democrat's promotion is the only way to secure female leadership at the...

What if . . . .?

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) is urging fellow Democrats in the House to support House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) bid for Speaker, writing in a note to colleagues that not doing so could result in "a self-destructive leadership battle." Cummings writes in the note, which was obtained by Politico, that new Democratic members of the House "should not be pressured into voting against our party’s nominee." "That will only play into the hands of House Republicans and President Trump. Our new members promised their constituents to bring stability and common-sense to a dysfunctional Washington — not to be drawn into...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has undoubtedly been a star this election cycle. Now, she can officially start packing her bags for Washington. The 29-year-old ascended to national prominence -- with appearances on the likes of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" -- with the assumption she would be headed to Congress in a reliably blue district. On Election Day, that proved true. She led 79 percent to 13 percent over Republican Anthony Pappas with 86 percent of locations reporting, and was projected by The Associated Press to win soon after polls closed. "This is what is possible when everyday people come together...

Goodman had asked Ocasio-Cortez her stance on Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) returning as House speaker. “Who do you think needs to lead the House?,” she asked. “And would you consider the possibility of being the speaker … yourself?” “I mean, I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew,” Ocasio-Cortez laughed. “I just won my seat.” “But, you know, what I do think is that in terms of her leadership in context, we need to see what our options are,” she continued.

Prior to the election, there was speculation that President Trump wanted Republicans to lose the House in order to ensure his 2020 re-election by running against the crazy House Dems, led by Nancy Pelosi, whose verbal inartfulness is already legendary.  On the campaign trail, he warned his supporters about the dangers of a Pelosi speakership, but I am pretty sure he recognizes in her the possibilities for deal-making.  Support for that hypothesis comes from the congratulatory call he made to her last night, and from his tweet this morning endorsing her for Speaker. In all fairness, Nancy Pelosi deserves...

I would urge the HOR to vote to vacate the speaker NOW for both symbolic and functional reasons!

Republicans, independents, and even many Democrats approve of her, and the Constitution allows the House to select a non-member . . . Next month’s election could deliver a close enough result that it will be very difficult for the House of Representatives to organize itself and elect a speaker. If the House deadlocks, the Constitution allows the body to select a non-member to serve as speaker and run the place. It’s never happened before, but at the beginning of this century, few thought figures such as Barack Obama or Donald Trump could ever be elected president. On Capitol Hill, there...

Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said he would step in to run for Speaker of the House if Democrats take back the chamber in November and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) does not appear to have the votes, he told The New York Times. The comments are the latest indication he is exploring a run for the Speakership. **SNIP** Clyburn, who is currently the third highest ranking Democrat in the House, would be the body’s first black Speaker. He said his claiming the Speakership would “put to bed forever the notion that the Democratic Caucus is taking black voters for granted.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told the Chicago Tribune editorial board on Tuesday that Democrats need to take back the Chamber in November’s midterm elections so she may be restored as speaker of the House to provide “a check and balance” on President Donald Trump. Although Pelosi did not credit Trump for any of the many accomplishments of his short tenure as president, including — in the board’s words — his role in the economy, which is now “roaring.” The article also noted her stance seems to ignore “joblessness at a record low for Hispanics and near a record...