By Jackson Richman
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced on Nov. 6 she will retire from Congress at the end of her current term on Jan. 3, 2027.
In a post on X, the former speaker said she will not seek a 21st term.
“With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative. As we go forward, my message to the city I love is this: San Francisco, know your power,” she said.
“We have made history. We have made progress. We have always led the way, and now we must continue to do so by remaining full participants in our Democracy and fighting for the American ideals we hold dear.”
Pelosi was first elected to Congress in 1987. In 2003, she was elected the first female House minority leader.
As an advocate for the gay community during the AIDS epidemic, she introduced the Ryan White CARE Act, which gave funding for treatment and resources for those with HIV and AIDS.
She voted against the Iraq War.
In 2007, Pelosi was elected the first female speaker of the House.
“This is a historic moment—for the Congress, and for the women of this country. It is a moment for which we have waited more than 200 years. Never losing faith, we waited through the many years of struggle to achieve our rights,” Pelosi said in her speech while accepting the gavel.
“For our daughters and granddaughters, today, we have broken the marble ceiling. For our daughters and our granddaughters, the sky is the limit, anything is possible for them.”
Pelosi regained the position after the Democrats took back control of the House after the 2018 midterms. She is the only woman to have held the position.
During her tenure as speaker, she helped Congress pass the Affordable Care Act and stimulus bills. She retired from House Democrat leadership in 2023 after the Republicans took back the House after the 2022 midterms.
“I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” Pelosi said on the House floor.
“For me, the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect.”
Pelosi was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1940. Her father, Thomas D’Alessandro Jr., was a congressman from Maryland and later the mayor of Baltimore. Her brother, Thomas D’Alessandro III, served on the Baltimore City Council and was also mayor of the city.
Pelosi’s career has not been without controversy. She called the GOP’s 2017 tax cuts and reform “crumbs.”
“In terms of the bonus that corporate America received versus the crumbs that they are giving workers to kind of put the schmooze on is so pathetic. It’s so pathetic,” she said at the time.
In 2020, Pelosi, sitting at the House rostrum as speaker, ripped up a copy of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.
She told reporters that it was “a courteous thing to do considering the alternative.”
On Jan. 6, 2021, she threatened to punch Trump if he came to the Capitol as Congress certified the 2020 election for Joe Biden.
“I hope he comes,” she said. “I want to punch him out. This is my moment. I’ve been waiting for this. For trespassing on the Capitol grounds. I want to punch him out, and I’m going to go to jail, and I’m going to be happy.”
There are two candidates so far running for Pelosi’s seat: California state Sen. Scott Wiener and Saikat Chakrabarti, former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
Trump called Pelosi’s retirement “a great thing for America.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a statement posted on X that her announcement reflects the state of Pelosi’s party.
“The old guard has been repudiated, and the radicals are taking over the Democratic Party. … Even the famous San Francisco liberal is not far-left enough for the neo-Marxists, and we commend her for her service,” he said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called Pelosi “the greatest Speaker of all time” in a statement posted on X.
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) posted a photo of herself and Pelosi on social media with the caption, “Thank you, Madam Speaker.”
