Nancy Pelosi to retire from Congress

The animosity between Pelosi and Trump ran so deep that it spilled over into the president’s 2020 State of the Union address, when he refused to shake Trump’s hand when he arrived on the House floor.

At the end of his speech, he stood up and dramatically tore a printed copy of the speech in half, later saying he did so because there was a “lie” on every page.

In 2021, Republicans expressed outrage after Pelosi rejected recommendations from two staunch Trump defenders that Trump serve on a special committee investigating Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead conduct our own investigation of the facts,” said then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Although Pelosi accepts partisan fighting as part of her job, the growing anger in US politics took a toll on her family in 2022 when a right-wing conspiracy theorist broke into her San Francisco home and hit her husband Paul Pelosi in the head with a hammer. He later recovered.

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With his departure from the national stage at the end of his 20th term in 2026, the House and Democrats across the country will lose one of their most high-profile liberals at a tumultuous time for the party.

But the move was not expected to roil the party’s leadership race following the November 2026 midterm elections, in which Democrats hope to take back control of the 435-member House of Representatives from Republicans.

Three years ago, Pelosi announced her retirement from Democratic leadership, which included two four-year terms as speaker from 2007-2011 and 2019-2023.

Relinquishing a post that is second only to the vice presidency and the presidency paved the way for a younger generation of Democrats who have spent years trying to climb the ladder of power to take control.

New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is taking over Pelosi’s old role as House Democratic leader, while 74-year-old Sen. Chuck Schumer continues to lead the party in that chamber.

While there are tensions between the 55-year-old Jeffries and more liberal Democrats, he is expected to be chosen as speaker if the party gains control of the House of Representatives.

“Nancy Pelosi is an iconic, legendary, transformative figure who has done so much to make so many people’s lives better over so many years,” Jeffries said at a press conference Monday when asked about Pelosi’s goals for 2026.

During her tenure, Pelosi gained fame as a champion of civil rights and one of the first advocates of gay rights, especially in her hometown, at a time when AIDS was ravaging the world.
San Francisco in the 1980s and beyond.

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What he considers his greatest accomplishment was helping then-President Barack Obama enact the 2010 Affordable Care Act, known as “Obamacare.”

In 2022, he told reporters, health care “has become our biggest issue, and this will be the biggest thing I’ve ever done in Congress.”

With her impending exit from Washington, Congress is losing a historical figure who many thought ruled with an iron fist as she raced from meeting to meeting at the Capitol at an almost dizzying pace in her trademark stilettos.

Democrats will also lose a prolific campaign fundraiser. “I had to raise about a million dollars a day — so at least five days a week,” he once told reporters.

He will also lose a Californian who proudly eschews the state’s reputation for healthy eating. Pelosi insisted that she eats a breakfast every day for lunch, which includes a hot dog with mustard, lots of Ghirardelli chocolate bars and often ice cream.

Reuters