Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was elected Speaker of the House for
another term on Tuesday, receiving the unanimous support of the Democratic
Caucus for the second consecutive election.
The caucus’s unified reaffirmation of Pelosi as Speaker solidified
her power not only within the chamber but also within the party, even alongside
an expanded House majority with more conservative members and a popular
president-elect.
While Pelosi’s ability to retain the House gavel was never in doubt, her
unanimous backing from Democrats was not a certainty.
{mosads}Some media outlets reported on Monday night that Republicans, who
had been considering casting protest votes in favor of Democratic Rep. John
Dingell (Mich.) instead of their own leader, Rep. John Boehner (Ohio), may have
been successful at convincing a handful of conservative Democrats to join them
in voting for Dingell.
The Michigan Democrat in November lost his highly coveted Energy
and Commerce Committee gavel to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), a close Pelosi
ally. A number of Democrats were furious at the outcome of the Dingell-Waxman
challenge, and were said to be considering voting for Dingell in a protest of
their own.
Ahead of the vote, Democratic leadership aides stated that they
knew of no such plot — arguing that it was only a rumor — but at the same time
could not say if they anticipated Pelosi receiving the unanimous support of the
caucus.
And as late as an hour before the vote, a senior Democrat also
demurred when asked if Pelosi would again be elected unanimously.
“I think she will have widespread support,” caucus Vice Chairman
Xavier Becerra (Calif.) said Tuesday. Becerra would not elaborate if he
expected widespread support to mean unanimous Democratic support or just a
majority.
In the end, though, only Pelosi’s and Boehner’s names were
submitted for consideration, each having received the full support of their
respective caucuses.
Pelosi received the votes of all 256 Democrats who voted, while
Boehner received the votes of all 178 Republicans. The congressional seat
held by former Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), President-elect Obama’s incoming
chief of staff, is vacant.
In 2007, all 233 Democrats voted for Pelosi, and all 202
Republicans voted for Boehner. At the time, Pelosi’s staff worked hard to
ensure that there would not be any Democratic defectors. The vote for the first
female Speaker and the accompanying photo of her holding the gavel with
children of various lawmakers attracted front-page coverage across the country.
When Democrats were in the minority, Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.)
voted for Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) for Speaker in 2003 and 2005. In 2003,
then-Democratic Reps. Ralph Hall (Texas), Ken Lucas (Ky.) and Charlie Stenholm
(Texas) voted “present.” Hall would later switch parties and become a
Republican. Stenholm and Lucas no longer serve in the lower chamber.