Speculation had already grown that Pelosi, 82, could announce her retirement if Democrats are defeated to make way for younger leadership as the party turns its sights electorally to the 2024 presidential election. But it is also possible to seek to remain as minority leader of her party. Pelosi’s spokeswoman, Drew Hamill, tweeted that she would address her colleagues on Thursday about her future plans. Pelosi retained her 11th District seat in California with 84 percent of the vote in the final count. An unexpected new factor in Pelosi’s calculus came on October 28, when her husband, Paul, was attacked at their San Francisco residence while in Washington, DC, allegedly by a Canadian overstaying his US visa. Pelosi, in her first interview since the attack, admitted to CNN that “my decision will be affected [by] what happened in the last week or two.” Paul Pelosi is out of the hospital but facing a difficult recovery, he said. WATCHES | Real-time footage of Pelosi, other leaders responding to the Capitol riot:
New footage of congressional leaders calling for help during Capitol siege
The Jan. 6 committee released new video Thursday showing members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, trying to get help as rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is heard saying, “They’re breaking the law in many different ways — frankly at the instigation of the president of the United States.” Pelosi served as Speaker between 2007 and 2011 and since 2019. As Speaker, she was instrumental in the passage of arguably the most important piece of recent US legislation – President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act of 2010. She has also been front and center during Donald Trump’s presidency, avoiding his frequent verbal abuse while leading the House through two unprecedented impeachments of the 45th president. During the deadly riot on January 6, 2021, in which a mob protesting Trump’s failed re-election bid breached the Capitol, voices were heard in the halls shouting for Pelosi. Several people gained access to Pelosi’s office and stole items while she was elsewhere on grounds, resulting in criminal charges. The attacker at her San Francisco home on October 28 also reportedly wanted to confront her.
35 years in Congress
Pelosi, the daughter of Thomas D’Alessandro Sr., a U.S. congressman and mayor of Baltimore, first entered the House in 1987. At the time, she was one of two dozen women in the 435-member chamber, a number that rose to 101 in the expiring 117th session of Congress. Pelosi appears at the White House on September 11, 2007, with then-President George W. Bush. Pelosi became President earlier that year, later helping to support the Bush administration’s plan to bail out parts of the financial industry. (Matthew Cavanaugh/Getty Images) Pelosi succeeded Dick Gephardt as House Minority Leader in 2002, becoming the first woman to lead a US party on Capitol Hill. “I’m not done yet. I’ve waited over 200 years for this,” he said at the time. Pelosi opposed the George W. Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq and became President after the Republicans lost the 2006 midterm elections. One of her most consequential decisions early on was to support House Democrats for a Wall Street bailout in final weeks of the Bush presidency in 2008 as a global financial crisis erupted. Just over a year later, Pelosi was seen as a driving force rallying reluctant Democrats in battleground states to support Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi holds a pen given to her by US President Barack Obama after signing landmark health insurance reform legislation at the White House March 23, 2010. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) “We will pass the gate,” he said at the height of the negotiations. “If the gate is closed, we’ll go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we’ll go into the pole. If that doesn’t work, we’ll parachute in. But we’re going to get health care reform passed.” It was signed into law in March 2010 and expanded access to health insurance for tens of millions of Americans. But he found himself back in the minority seat, succeeded as Speaker by John Boehner, after Republicans trounced Democrats in the 2014 midterm elections. Pelosi reclaimed the gavel as President midway through Trump’s presidency. The topic of the show pic.twitter.com/URjmKxlh9x —@Booth Trump’s penchant for allowing cameras into White House meetings with members of both parties meant the public saw Pelosi on more than one occasion coming up to Trump and checking him out. By coolly departing the White House after such an occasion, Pelosi inspired internet memes, and the red Max Mara coat was quickly put back into production by the designer. On another occasion, Glamor magazine marveled at her eight-hour defense of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in the House wearing her trademark stilettos.
Internal criticism
A supporter of NAFTA in the 1990s, Pelosi has at times excoriated progressive members of her party for what they saw as coziness with corporate America. Her estimated net worth – her husband was a venture capitalist – is over US$100 million. He also defended stock purchases by members of Congress despite new controversies involving members of both parties. Nancy Pelosi is seen with her husband Paul at a state dinner at the White House June 7, 2011. Paul Pelosi was hospitalized for several days after an intruder attacked him last month at the couple’s San Francisco home. (Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images) After Democrats regained control of the House in the 2018 midterms, a new wave of progressives — highlighted by Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and so-called Caucus members — have been more public in occasional criticism of Democratic leadership on policy. and referral. Pelosi’s Reps. James Clyburn and Steny Hoyer are also over 80. After the January 6, 2021 attack, Pelosi finally approved the House Select Committee looking into the events leading up to that day. While the Republican House leadership rejected both a panel and a committee, Pelosi was able to recruit Republicans Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger to the committee. Footage played at the most recent committee hearing showed Pelosi on Jan. 6, 2021, coolly working the phones to try to ensure police and military reinforcements would come to protect members of Congress while also excoriating Trump. With the House now under Republican control, which takes effect in January, that committee is expected to disband, but not before submitting a final report.
