Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she will step down as party leader after two decades at the top

• By Deirdre Walsh and Susan Davis/NPR

Speaker Nancy Pelosi — who shattered the “marble ceiling” to become the first woman to lead the U.S. House — announced Thursday she will step down from party leadership.

“With great confidence in our caucus, I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress. For me the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect ” Pelosi said in a speech on the House floor. “I’m grateful that so many are ready and willing to shoulder this awesome responsibility.”

Pelosi said she will continue to represent her San Francisco district in the House.

In her remarks, Pelosi warned that democracy is “majestic, but it is fragile” and said voters in 2022 sent a message to Congress that they would not support those who supported violence or insurrection. She also applauded the chamber for becoming more diverse over the course of her 35 year career. When she first entered Congress in 1987 there were 12 women in the Democratic Caucus and now there are 90. “And we want more,” she said, to applause.

Her decision comes a day after Republicans officially won control of the chamber in the 2022 midterms, and three weeks after the violent assault on her husband, Paul, at their San Francisco home.

The GOP is expected to have a razor-thin majority after the “red wave” never materialized on Election Day. Democrats defied historical expectations and performed better in governor, Senate, and House elections than anticipated.

Her decision comes as no surprise on Capitol Hill, and is consistent with a promise she made four years ago to self term limit after Democrats won the majority in 2018 and she became the first speaker since the legendary Sam Rayburn to claim the speakership twice. There has been a quiet desire among rank and file Democrats to elect a younger slate of leaders to replace Pelosi, who is 82, and the two other top House Democratic leaders, Rep Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who are also in their 80s.

House Democrats will hold leadership elections at the end of the month, and Pelosi’s announcement is likely to set off a flurry of leadership bid announcements. It is unclear if Hoyer and Clyburn will try to remain at the leadership table, but there is no shortage of lawmakers ready to replace them. Like Pelosi both men have deep respect from the caucus, but as one House freshman Democrat told NPR, “it’s time for generational change.”

At the top of the list is Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Pete Aguilar of California. All three serve in lower-tier leadership roles now and are interested in moving up the ladder. Jeffries, who is 52, Clark, who is 59, and Aguilar, who is 43, would make an African American, a woman and a Hispanic the new faces of the party. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., is also mulling a leadership bid. Fellow Californians Ami Bera and Tony Cárdenas have already announced campaigns to run the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democrats’ campaign arm, for the 2024 election.

Pelosi will be a tough act to follow

Even those who previously clashed with Pelosi praise her record of steering her often divided caucus through difficult times, with little room for error. With only a 5-seat majority the speaker helped muscle through President Biden’s legislative accomplishments — a pandemic aid bill, a bipartisan infrastructure bill, legislation boosting production of semi conductor chips, and a measure lowering prescription drug costs and investing in climate programs.

When she took the gavel for the first time in the House chamber in 2007, she surrounded herself with children — including some of her own grandchildren — on the floor. Throughout her tenure, she has repeatedly said her focus is to enact progressive policies on health care, child care, and climate change, all guided by the mantra “for the children.” She continued to serve as the minority leader when Republicans took control of the House in 2010 and made history in 2019 when she was elected speaker again. Drew Hammill, Pelosi’s longtime spokesperson regularly answered questions about her future in recent years saying the speaker “is not on a shift, but on a mission.”