PASSING THE BATON — After tracing her self-described journey from “housemaker to House Speaker,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi stepped down today from her post after Democrats officially lost their majority. First elected in a 1987 special election, the California congresswoman spent the last 20 years leading the Democratic House caucus. She became the first woman speaker in U.S. history after the 2006 midterm election, and held the speakership until Republicans took back the House in 2010. When Democrats won control of the House again in 2018, Pelosi regained the speaker’s gavel but promised to step away after 2022. It’s been an eventful second tour of duty: Pelosi has presided over two impeachments of former President Donald Trump, ushered members back to the floor after an armed insurrection in the Capitol and watched her husband land in the hospital after an attacker, who had targeted her, assaulted him in their San Francisco home. Over the last two years, Pelosi, 82, has been forced to operate with a relatively slim Democratic majority, constantly trying to find the votes needed to pass legislation in the 435-seat House. She would repeat the mantra “if you don’t have 218 people, we’re just having a conversation,” according to John Lawrence, Pelosi’s chief of staff for eight years and author of the recently published Arc of Power: Inside Nancy Pelosi’s Speakership, 2005-2010 . The transition to a Republican majority will also see Pelosi lieutenants Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) step down from their top leadership positions, with 52-year-old Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) seemingly poised to take over as minority leader. Together, the changes mark a dramatic generational shift of power from the current team of octogenarians. “The hour has come for a new generation to lead,” Pelosi said today in her remarks to the House. Republicans, who will have a narrow majority, now have to figure out their own leadership. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was nominated Tuesday by House Republicans to serve as speaker but faced 31 defections , a sign of resistance from the hard-line House Freedom Caucus. To win the speakership, McCarthy needs to be elected by a majority of all House members who vote on Jan. 3. Nightly called Lawrence to discuss Pelosi’s legacy and the tumult in House leadership. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. How do you think Speaker Pelosi’s departure from leadership will affect the Democratic caucus? I think she likely feels that the Democratic caucus now has in place a number of younger, more diverse, but highly experienced members who have won the support of caucus members in elections. I think she’s encouraged that there is a team of people who are ready to step up and be successful. So why has she decided to remain a member, but give up her leadership position? I learned a long time ago not to speak for her. But she has a deep and abiding commitment to the House of Representatives and to the legislative branch as a co-equal branch of government, and to her constituents and the role that she plays in representing them in that legislative branch. I think that, as she said on the floor, she has the capacity to continue to be an effective member for constituents and a valuable asset for the party in the House. She carried the enormous burden of leadership for longer than anyone but Sam Rayburn as leader of a party. And that’s a long, long time. And it’s a lot of pressure. What will be the differences in Democratic leadership now, with new people stepping up? You need to work diligently to find common ground within the caucus, which she was able to do over a very long period of time. She knew the members of the caucus. I always say that she followed the political philosophy of the great English political theorist Mick Jagger, “You don’t always get what you want, but you get what you need.” She could figure out what people needed better than most people. It remains to be seen, but hopefully the next people learn those lessons. What made her a good leader in your mind? Well, her caucus selected her every two years. She earned that vote of trust every two years. She did so because people in the caucus were confident that they would have a fair opportunity to influence the legislation and strategy, that they were being heard and that the needs of their constituents were being heard. It’s hard to be an effective leader if you don’t have that trust — we saw that in the problems [former GOP Speaker John] Boehner had with his conference. How does a new leader, from either party, build that trust? You have to listen to the members. The members do not give you power, the members give you authority to act on their behalf. And if you don’t have the members believing that you’re acting in their best interest, it is very difficult to govern the House of Representatives. Rep. Pelosi was willing — I saw this far too many times to count — to take a phone call at one o’clock in the morning or two o’clock in the morning when members insist they must talk to her. That’s how you build loyalty, and there’s no shortcut to doing that. Members these days are much more independent, but they need the party leadership — you can’t have people going off in all different directions. As she always says, if you don’t have 218 people, we’re just having a conversation. You have to figure out how to get to 218. There are challenges with new people who want to come in and promote themselves, you know it’s not unheard of for a politician to want to promote themselves. Good leadership can help a candidate become part of a governing caucus. I have a lot of trepidation about whether Republicans will be able to do that, because even when we had 245 members or something in 2009-2010, we still only passed the Affordable Care Act by three votes. I have concerns about whether, with two or three votes to spare, McCarthy is going to be able to produce the 218 votes, whether he’ll be a strong enough leader and have loyalty from his conference. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at cmchugh@politico.com or on Twitter at @calder_mchugh .
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