Is Nancy Pelosi Out?

One senior House Democratic aide described Tuesday’s meeting as being unusually contentious as members grappled with how the Democratic Party should rebuild following last week’s election losses, with some wanting new blood in leadership. Many Democrats have said this week they want more time to digest the lessons of last week’s “shellacking” rather than rushing to hold the elections this week.

“As far as we are concerned the problem was more with the communication than it was with our policy”, Pelosi said.

Politico reported Thursday afternoon that Ryan informed Democrats of his leadership aspirations in a letter. Even Pelosi loyalists, like GK Butterfield of North Carolina, say she needs to present a more specific vision about where she wants to take the party.

Fundraising is another factor in Pelosi’s favor. As it was, they did pick up a handful of seats from the Republicans.

New York Congressman Joe Crowley was also rumored to be a possible contender for Pelosi’s job, but instead announced Thursday that he will seek the position of Caucus Chair.

“I am committed to creating an inclusive environment within our caucus, which means broadening beyond the usual messengers and building our strategies and our goals from the ground up”, he added.

“I’m respectful what people are saying”. We have all been deeply moved by the stories and concerns of our constituents.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi officially has competition for the Democratic leadership slot.

Ryan was a vocal supporter of Hillary Clinton. “Those same attributes served us well in 2006 when we won the House and I’m hopeful that that – I believe they will do so again”.

“We’ve got a couple of big issues coming up, not the least of which is defending the very strong parts of the Affordable Care Act”, said Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., a rival of Levin’s on the powerful panel. “And I know we will be unified”.

Pelosi herself is 76 years old and has been leading Democrats in the House since 2002.

Behind the closed doors of the caucus, a majority of the members who spoke wanted to delay the vote in the wake of an election that was disappointing to House Democrats.

“This isn’t about the past election, in my mind, this is about the next election”, Ryan, who’s mulling a challenge to Pelosi, said Tuesday. “What we are doing right now is not working”, Ryan wrote. Outside of him, the Democrats’ leadership bench is shallow and old.

Voters who elected Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton on November 8 also gave Democrats a few more seats in the 435-member U.S. House of Representatives and the 100-member Senate, but Republicans held on to their majorities in both. Democrats have controlled the House for only four years since 1995, and will hold only 194 of the chamber’s 435 seats come January.

“I really think we need to look at each other eyeball to eyeball… to get something more definitive”, Rep. Pascrell said. “We need to stop talking to these people like we are better than them”, he went on.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) threw its support behind House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in her race to retain her leadership post Thursday. In her letter, she boasted of enjoying the support of two-thirds of her caucus.

Pelosi informed fellow Democrats of the delay during a private meeting Tuesday in Washington. “Both internally in the caucus; and in the country”.

Former MSNBC commentator Krystal Ball wrote in the Huffington Post that Ryan, whose district includes Youngstown “speaks the language of disaffected blue collar voters and is also the kind of young scrappy fighter who could go toe to toe with a President Trump”.