By Richard Cowan and Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was expected on Thursday to announce whether she will retire from Congress or seek another term as party leader, after Republicans were projected to have won majority control of the chamber in last week’s elections.
Pelosi, 82, and two other top leaders have been under pressure the last few years from younger House Democrats to yield power after two decades at the helm.
“The Speaker plans to address her future plans tomorrow to her colleagues. Stay tuned,” Pelosi’s Deputy Chief of Staff Drew Hammill said in a post on Twitter late Wednesday.
Her decision may have a bearing on whether outgoing House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, 82, and Democratic Whip James Clyburn, 83, will seek top Democratic positions in the new Congress that convenes on Jan. 3.
Pelosi, the first woman speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said late on Wednesday House Democrats “will continue to play a leading role in supporting President Biden’s agenda – with strong leverage over a scant Republican majority.”
She did not specifically address her role going forward but in recent days has noted that the violent assault on her husband Paul by an intruder in their San Francisco home, and other factors, would impact her decision.
Pelosi “has been overwhelmed by calls from colleagues, friends and supporters,” Hammill wrote.
President Joe Biden has also voiced his support for her.
Pelosi was first elected to the House in 1987 and steadily moved up the ranks, securing leadership positions before winning her first term as speaker in 2007.
Along with Biden, who turns 80 this weekend, Democrats’ aging leadership has raised questions about its next generation even as Americans are living longer.
The highest-ranking and most powerful elected woman in U.S. history until Kamala Harris became vice president in January 2021, Pelosi has twice served as leader of the House, first from 2007 to 2011 as Democrats rode opposition to the Iraq War to control of the chamber.
She took the gavel again in 2019 when Democrats rode a wave of opposition to then-President Donald Trump to win control of the House, and was re-elected speaker in November 2021.
House Democrats are set to vote on their leaders on Nov. 30.
On Wednesday, House Republicans offered initial support for Kevin McCarthy to serve as speaker when the next Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3.
McCarthy currently serves as House Republican leader and will face election by the entire House at the start of the new year. It was not yet clear if he will win enough backing of fellow Republicans to win the speakership.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone and Mark Heinrich)
