Cummings urges Dems to vote for Pelosi as Speaker, avoid ‘self-destructive’ battle

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) is urging fellow Democrats in the House to support House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) bid for Speaker, writing in a note to colleagues that not doing so could result in “a self-destructive leadership battle.”

Cummings writes in the note, which was obtained by Politico, that new Democratic members of the House “should not be pressured into voting against our party’s nominee.”

{mosads}”That will only play into the hands of House Republicans and President Trump. Our new members promised their constituents to bring stability and common-sense to a dysfunctional Washington — not to be drawn into an effort to throw the House into chaos,” he writes.

“Our new members promised to get results on the issues their constituents care about — not to delay these efforts while they are dragged into a self-destructive leadership battle,” he adds.

Cummings also writes in the letter that Democrats need Pelosi’s “experience and effectiveness more than ever,” dismissing the idea that she has been the party’s leader in the House for too long.

“Some have suggested that Nancy Pelosi has been our leader for too long. But most House Democrats have never served in the majority, and only a handful have ever chaired a full committee. At this moment, we need her experience and effectiveness more than ever,” he writes.

Pelosi last week officially launched her bid to be the next Speaker, and she has said she is confident that she will get the necessary votes. 

But there remains a group of Democratic lawmakers who either haven’t said whether they will support Pelosi’s bid or have come out against her.

Rep.-elect Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), for example, said Monday that she won’t vote for Pelosi.

“I have been talking about how important it is we have new leadership in Congress right now,” Sherrill said on MSNBC. “And so I won’t be voting for Nancy Pelosi.”