![]() ![]() Denying Duckworth a proxy vote for Pallone only intensified the criticism. ![]() The griping grew more pronounced with the arrival of the Pallone-Eshoo vote, when Pelosi angered many Democrats by bucking the seniority system to promote her closest friend on Capitol Hill. The San Francisco liberal has led the party since 2003, and in the wake of November’s mid-term elections – in which the Democrats were trounced, losing 13 seats and shifting a good-deal more power to Boehner – many in her caucus questioned if there’s wasn’t a need for some fresh faces in leadership. Pelosi ran unopposed in her successful bid to remain Democratic leader in the next Congress, but it wasn’t without controversy. The Democrats’ tone, in recent months, hasn’t always been so sunny. “I think Democrats come out of this somewhat optimistic that we’re going to have a voice in future negotiations,” Welch said. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a Pallone supporter in the late stages of a pregnancy, an absentee vote in that contest.īut by launching a vigorous attack on the GOP riders in the cromnibus bill – and taking on Obama very publicly in the debate – she silenced her critics, energized her base, and heads into the 114th Congress with renewed standing atop the party. The Democratic criticisms grew louder when Pelosi denied Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) for ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), a close friend, over the more senior Rep. Not only did the Democrats lose more than a dozen seats in the midterms, but Pelosi had alienated many in her caucus by siding with Rep. Pelosi had struggled in the lame duck up to that point. “It was very wise of Pelosi to take this fight on in the full-throated way she did, because otherwise there would have been a sense among the Democrats that if we don’t fight on this we won’t fight on anything.” “Pelosi, in fact, did a brilliant job on this,” said Rep. It served as a warning to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) that she has the power to sustain presidential vetoes, and a signal to the White House that she and the Democrats won’t be a rubber stamp for Obama-backed bills if they think the party’s values are being trampled. The strategic move at once sent a message to her liberal-leaning caucus that she’s willing to fight for core Democratic principles. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) heads into the next Congress newly empowered by her feisty opposition to a year-end spending package that outraged her caucus.Īlthough the California Democrat was ultimately on the losing side of the debate over a $1.1 trillion government-funding measure, her decision to take on President Obama and side with a vast majority of House Democrats won across-the-board accolades from her troops at a time when many are grumbling about their party’s future. ![]()
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