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Chris Stein in Washington

Nancy Pelosi says she will not seek re-election as Democratic leader in House – as it happened

Joe Biden Hunter Biden Republican United States Kevin McCarthy Republican Party
Nancy Pelosi speaks on the House floor on Thursday.
Nancy Pelosi speaks on the House floor on Thursday. Photograph: Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images

Closing summary

Nancy Pelosi will not run again for a position in House Democratic leadership, ending her nearly two decades as one of the most powerful figures in the party and the first woman to serve as speaker of Congress’s lower chamber. In a speech, she reflected on her decades representing San Francisco in Congress, and found time to throw shade at Donald Trump.

Here’s what else happened today:

Donald Trump’s network of properties aren’t just good places to allegedly store government secrets – they’re also big-time moneymakers for the former president, according to a new report from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

Starting from January 20, 2021, when Trump departed the White House, the former president has made hundreds of thousands of dollars off of lawmakers and other candidates from more than 500 visits to Mar-a-Lago in south Florida and his other properties. A few of the finer points from CREW’s report:

  • Sixty-seven senators and House lawmakers have visited Trump’s properties 187 times since he left office. The incoming Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy is the biggest spender, putting down more than $250,000 at the former president’s real estate over five visits, despite the lawmaker’s condemnation of Trump after the January 6 attack.

  • State officials including governors, attorney generals and lawmakers have made 106 visits to the president’s properties. Despite their budding rivalry, Florida governor Ron DeSantis showed up the most out of this group, making seven visits.

  • Candidates for various offices at the state and federal levels have made nearly half of all political visits to the Trump properties, with 140 aspirants stopping by 236 times. Anna Paulina Luna, an incoming House representative from Florida, made six visits, while Kari Lake, who failed in her bid for Arizona’s governorship, made five. In fact, the New York Times reports that Lake stopped by today:

Meanwhile in Georgia, the bloopers are piling up as Republican Herschel Walker continues his campaign for Senate, ahead of the state’s 6 December run-off election. Martin Pengelly watched footage of the latest, so you don’t have to:

In a campaign speech on Wednesday, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Georgia, Herschel Walker, told supporters: “I don’t want to be a vampire any more. I want to be a werewolf.”

The remark was the latest controversial or outright bizarre intervention from the former football star who like other candidates endorsed by Donald Trump struggled to overcome his Democratic opponent in the midterm elections.

Raphael Warnock, the incumbent Georgia senator, outpolled Walker last week but did not pass 50% of the vote, meaning that under state law a runoff will be held on 6 December. Control of the Senate has been decided, after Democrats won in Arizona and Nevada, but the Georgia race will still be keenly watched.

On Wednesday, Walker spoke in McDonough.

Choosing to rehash the plot of a film he said he recently watched late at night, whose title he remembered as “Fright Night, Freak Night, or some type of night”, he said in rambling remarks: “I don’t know if you know, but vampires are some cool people, are they not? But let me tell you something that I found out: a werewolf can kill a vampire. Did you know that? I never knew that.

“So, I don’t want to be a vampire any more. I want to be a werewolf.”

Democratic senators call for FTC oversight of Twitter after Musk purchase

Seven Democratic senators have sent the Federal Trade Commission a letter to express concerns about changes made by Elon Musk to Twitter, asking the regulator to “vigorously oversee” the social media platform’s consent decree and compliance with consumer privacy laws.

“We write regarding Twitter’s serious, willful disregard for the safety and security of its users, and encourage the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate any breach of Twitter’s consent decree or other violations of our consumer protection laws,” begins the letter to the commissions’s chair Lina Khan, which was signed by Richard Blumenthal, Dianne Feinstein, Ben Ray Luján, Elizabeth Warren, Edward J. Markey, Cory Booker and Robert Menendez.

“In recent weeks, Twitter’s new Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, has taken alarming steps that have undermined the integrity and safety of the platform, and announced new features despite clear warnings those changes would be abused for fraud, scams, and dangerous impersonation,” the letter continues, noting the layoffs and resignations that have hit the company since Musk, the world’s richest man, took over last month.

They also take issue with the bungled launch of the Twitter Blue service, which allows anyone to receive a verified account for $8 a month. The senators note it led to an explosion of impostor accounts, including “scammers impersonating companies and celebrities for cryptocurrency schemes, identity theft, and other financial crimes.”

“We are concerned that the actions taken by Mr. Musk and others in Twitter management could already represent a violation of the FTC’s consent decree, which prohibits misrepresentation and requires that Twitter maintain a comprehensive information security program,” the senators write.

“We urge the Commission to vigorously oversee its consent decree with Twitter and to bring enforcement actions against any breaches or business practices that are unfair or deceptive, including bringing civil penalties and imposing liability on individual Twitter executives where appropriate.”

The Senate’s top Democrat Chuck Schumer made the journey to the House to watch Nancy Pelosi announce the end of her time in Democratic leadership.

Here’s his thoughts on the end of the Pelosi era, delivered on the Senate floor:

Reaction continues to come in after Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that she will not run for leadership of House Democrats again.

Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics, says her organization has “witnessed a great deal of history in our 50 years of observing women’s roles in American politics, but among the most significant is Nancy Pelosi’s ascension as the first woman speaker of the US House of Representatives.

“She has been, throughout her career, a symbol of the heights of aspiration for American women and girls … Nancy Pelosi will be remembered as one of the most consequential speakers in modern history, holding together an often-fractious caucus, shepherding momentous legislation, and wielding influence in ways that earned respect from allies and opponents alike.

“She has weathered unprecedented vitriol but was nonetheless dedicated to consensus-building and results. She also prioritized the leadership of other women – encouraging and supporting women across the country to run for office. She presided over the largest ever increase in women’s representation in the US House, as well as the most diverse Democratic caucus in history … she has shown the world and future generations the unlimited potential of women’s leadership.”

And here’s Danielle Melfi, executive director of the pro-Biden administration group Building Back Together: “Speaker Pelosi’s legacy is without equal in Congress. From the Affordable Care Act to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Dodd-Frank reforms, she has championed some of the most impactful legislation of the last four decades.

“She fights for the interests of children and working families in California and across the country, broke down barriers as the first woman to serve as speaker of the House, and is a stalwart defender of our democracy – particularly in the wake of the January 6 attack.

“Among her countless policy achievements, the speaker was instrumental in passing key elements of President Biden’s agenda, including the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Chips and Science Act, the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and the Pact Act – each of them a historic win for working families.”

Interesting news emerging on the January 6 front via Annie Grayer of CNN, who reports that the House select committee “is interviewing Secret Service agent Robert Engel, the lead agent in former president Donald Trump’s motorcade on the day of the US Capitol attack, two sources [say]”.

Grayer adds that “Engel was the agent Cassidy Hutchinson testified she was told Trump lunged at” when he was told he could not follow his supporters to the Capitol after his speech near the White House.

Trump denies lunging at agents on his protective detail. Here’s video of Hutchinson’s testimony, in which she said: “The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr Engel grabbed his arm, said, ‘Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. We’re going back to the West Wing. We’re not going to the Capitol.’ Mr Trump then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel.”

In other January 6 news, there follows a write-up of Mike Pence’s statement to CBS in an interview that he will not testify because he thinks the committee is partisan and also doesn’t think he, as an ex-vice-president, should have to testify “about deliberations that took place at the White House”.

Pence’s detailed descriptions of detailed deliberations that took place at the White House are currently available from all good booksellers – and no doubt quite a few bad ones too.

Of course, accounts of detailed deliberations that took place at the White House as contained in memoirs aimed at the 2024 Republican primary are not given under oath. But testimony to congressional committees is, as the January 6 chair and vice-chair, Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney, made clear in their response to Pence.

In short, testimony such as Hutchinson’s about Trump lunging at agents is “subject to criminal penalties for lying to Congress”. So news that Engel is interviewing with the committee is interesting to say the least.

Further reading:

Dave Wasserman, US House editor at the nonpartisan Cook Report political analysis website, says the Democrat Mary Peltola has won in Alaska, beating two Republicans, Nick Begich and the former governor and John McCain vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin.

Though Republicans have won the House back from Democrats this still qualifies for a “huge if true” – the Guardian follows the Associated Press, which has not called the Alaska race yet – and not only because Palin seems to have lost again in her attempt to return to meaningful political office.

When she won a special election for the seat earlier this year, Peltola became the first Alaska Native elected to Congress.

“I want to work with everyone and anyone who is a reasonable person to find solutions to Alaska’s challenges,” she told the Guardian then:

More on Kari Lake and her refusal to concede defeat in the governor’s race in Arizona, where the Trump-endorsed Republican lost to her Democratic opponent, Katie Hobbs.

Kari Lake.
Kari Lake. Photograph: Ross D Franklin/AP

Lake posted a two-minute statement to Twitter earlier. She began: “Hi, Arizona … I wanted to reach out to you to let you know that I am still in this fight with you. For two years I’ve been sounding the alarm about our broken election system here in Arizona. And this past week has confirmed everything we’ve been saying.”

Lake proceeded to recount a list of evidence-free claims against Hobbs, the secretary of state who oversaw the election, and about supposed suspicious outcomes at the polls last week.

Reporting Lake’s statement for the Guardian, Sam Levine writes:

There were equipment malfunctions at about a third of polling locations on election day in Maricopa county, but voters were still able to cast their ballots. Officials had figured out a solution by the afternoon. A county judge also rejected a lawsuit filed by Republicans to extend voting hours, saying there was no evidence voters had been disenfranchised.”

Lake said she was “busy here collecting evidence and data” and had “assembled the best and brightest legal team and we are exploring every avenue to correct the many wrongs that have been done this past week”.

“I’m doing everything in my power to right these wrongs,” she said. “My resolve to fight for you is higher than ever.”

She also referred to being part of a “movement [that] started in Arizona and it quickly expanded to all 50 states … a movement of mama bears and papa bears and students and Arizonans who love this country”.

Lake concluded by promising “one thing. This fight to save our republic has just begun”.

Sam has more:

The day so far

Nancy Pelosi will not run again for a position in House Democratic leadership, ending her nearly two decades as one of the most powerful figures in the party and the first woman to serve as speaker of Congress’s lower chamber. In a speech on the floor, she talked about her decades representing San Francisco in Congress, and found time to throw shade on Donald Trump.

Here’s what else has happened today so far:

As she announced her plans to step down from House leadership, Nancy Pelosi managed to get in one more dig at Donald Trump.

“I have enjoyed working with three presidents, achieving historic investments in clean energy with President George Bush, transformed healthcare reform with President Barack Obama … and forging the future, from infrastructure to healthcare to climate action, with President Joe Biden,” she said on the House floor.

The problem is, Pelosi worked with four presidents. Trump is left unmentioned.

What moment might the House speaker remember most fondly from the former Republican president’s time in office? Perhaps it would be when she tore up Trump’s State of the Union address right after he finished delivering it.

Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump: not exactly friends.
Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump: not exactly friends. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

Updated

Joe Biden has called Nancy Pelosi to congratulate her for a good run after she announced her decision to leave House Democratic leadership, the White House says.

He also released a lengthy statement of appreciation for Pelosi’s tenure.

“When I think of Nancy Pelosi, I think of dignity. History will note she is the most consequential Speaker of the House of Representatives in our history. There are countless examples of how she embodies the obligation of elected officials to uphold their oath to God and country to ensure our democracy delivers and remains a beacon to the world,” the president wrote.

These include her work getting the Affordable Care Act passed under Barack Obama’s administration, as well as seeing the American Rescue Plan, Inflation Reduction Act and Chips Act through the House under Biden.

“Because of Nancy Pelosi, the lives of millions and millions of Americans are better, even in districts represented by Republicans who voted against her bills and too often vilify her. That’s Nancy – always working for the dignity of all of the people. And, as a fierce defender of democracy through our laws, history will also note her fierceness and resolve to protect our democracy from the violent, deadly insurrection of January 6th. It’s a threat of political violence and intimidation that continues and she and her family know all too well, but that will never stop her from serving our nation,” Biden wrote.

“She might be stepping down from her leadership role in the House Democratic Caucus, but she will never waiver in protecting our sacred democracy.”

With Pelosi and Hoyer stepping down, who will replace them?

The Congress junkies at Punchbowl News have the answer:

There will be many consequences to this change in power. One of them will be a significant drop in the average ages of the Democratic leaders of Congress’s lower chamber:

Steny Hoyer is also planning to leave House Democratic leadership, Punchbowl News reports, but will stay in the chamber.

The Maryland lawmaker is the most senior Democrat in the House, and currently serves as House majority leader, the number-two position under the speaker. He was to lose that role next year, when Republicans take over the majority.

Pelosi cast her decision to step down from leadership of the House Democrats as an opportunity to hand power to the next generation.

“For me, the hour’s come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect, and I’m grateful that so many are ready and willing to shoulder this awesome responsibility,” she said.

Pelosi wrapped up her speech with thank yous to staff and family members, and is currently greeting a crowd of lawmakers in the chamber, including the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer.

Pelosi to step down from Democratic leadership

Nancy Pelosi has announced she will step down as House Democratic leader after nearly two decades, but remain as a lawmaker in the chamber.

“There is no greater official honor for me than to stand on this floor and to speak for the people of San Francisco. This I will continue to do as a member of the House – speaking for the people of San Francisco, serving the great state of California and defending our constitution,” Pelosi said.

“And with great confidence in our caucus, I will not seek re-election to Democratic leadership in the next Congress.”

Updated

Nancy Pelosi has started speaking on the House floor, and cast last week’s election results as a win for the country’s democracy.

“Last week, the American people spoke, and their voices were raised in defense of liberty, of the rule of law and of democracy itself,” Pelosi said, after an election in which voters rejected several Republican election deniers standing for positions nationwide.

Whatever Pelosi announces, Punchbowl News reports not many Republicans will be in the room to hear it:

Updated

Pelosi arrives in House to address her future

Nancy Pelosi received applause from lawmakers as she arrived in the House and gaveled it into session:

She’s expected to speak imminently about her future plans. This blog will cover the announcement as it happens, or you can follow along at the live feed embedded at the top of the page. Watch live here:

Updated

We’re about 15 minutes away from Nancy Pelosi’s address to the House, where she is expected to announce whether she will continue to lead Democrats in the chamber.

Earlier today, she arrived at the Capitol and took no questions from reporters:

However she did make a statement another way: through her manner of dress. The Wall Street Journal notes Pelosi is wearing a white pantsuit she usually dons for big moments, its color associated with the suffragette movement:

If she choses to step down from Democratic leadership, it would be the end of an era that began in 2003, when she made history as the first woman to lead a party in Congress:

You can watch Nancy Pelosi’s address here:

Updated

The incoming Republican speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has a visitor: former Trump administration aide Stephen Miller, known for his hardline immigration stance.

He was spotted walking into the California lawmaker’s office by the Washington Post:

Perhaps this is why Senate Democrats are talking about addressing immigration all of a sudden.

Last week’s elections produced winners, losers and candidates like Kari Lake.

The Associated Press has already called the Arizona governor’s race for Democrat Katie Hobbs, but her Republican challenger Lake is refusing to concede. She said as much in a video released to supporters today:

While she complains about long voting lines and broken tabulators on election day, Lake doesn’t announce any specific actions surrounding her loss, only vague promises to continue fighting.

Her refusal to accept her election loss was something of a foregone conclusion. Lake was a prominent supporter of the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, and one of a slew of candidates on ballots holding that belief. That said, many of those would-be politicians were defeated in their races last week, and have quietly accepted their losses.

Nancy Pelosi will speak on the House floor around 12:10 pm eastern time, her deputy chief of staff announces:

The House Democratic leader will likely make public her future plans after she lost the speakership in last week’s midterm elections. This blog will cover the speech as it happens.

Meanwhile in the Senate, the Democratic leaders are trying to make the most of the remaining weeks before their allies cede control of the House.

Bloomberg Government reports Democratic senator Dick Durbin wants to try to find the long-elusive solution to the issue of immigrants brought into the United States as children:

But if it’s going to go anywhere, Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the judiciary committee, says the Biden administration needs to step up border security:

The Republicans haven’t formally taken control of the House yet, but their most extreme lawmakers have already flexed their muscles, the New York Times reports.

On Monday, a group of rightwing lawmakers, including perhaps the best-known of them all, Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene, got the party’s leaders to agree to investigate the justice department and Nancy Pelosi over how people accused of crimes in January 6 have been treated in custody.

Republicans in Congress have increasingly taken up the cause of those facing charges related to the attack on the Capitol, even as they’ve attacked Democrats for rising crime nationwide.

Pelosi to step back from Democratic leadership, remain in House: media

Nancy Pelosi will step back from her leadership role in the House Democratic caucus but remain in the chamber as a representative and informal adviser to the party, Puck reports.

Pelosi, 82, has for nearly two decades been one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress, and served four non-consecutive terms as speaker of the house, the first woman to do so. The GOP’s victory in last week’s midterm election means she will lose the post when the new Congress takes their seats in January, and she is expected to later today formally announce her plans for the coming years.

Pelosi’s decision to step back would set the stage for the ascendance of a new crop of Democratic leaders in the House. Puck reports the speaker made her decision over the weekend, and drafted a speech with the help of presidential historian Jon Meacham, who is close to top Democrats including Joe Biden.

The incoming Republican leader of the Oversight Committee has just announced that they’ll use its investigative powers to look into Hunter Biden’s business dealings, and what Joe Biden knows about them, Punchbowl News reports:

The House GOP is ready to fight with Democrats, but first they have to get over their fights with each other. Martin Pengelly reports on the rifts developing within the party as they decide their leaders in the House for the next two years.

Even before Republicans took the House of Representatives, leading figures on the right of the party pointed to troubled waters ahead for Kevin McCarthy – or whoever else becomes the next House speaker.

Now Republicans have won their slim victory in the lower chamber of Congress, the next two years are likely to be chaotic. Controlling an unruly party with an extremely narrow majority will all but guarantee brutal tests every day, especially from the right wing.

Fighting among Republicans over who leads the House is already in full swing. On Tuesday, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, a member of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, would not tell Politico if he would back McCarthy.

But Higgins did say: “The speaker of the House, whomever he or she is, will be required to recognise the center of gravity of the conference itself. And the Freedom Caucus has moved that center of gravity to the right.”

Here’s the Guardian’s Joan E Greve with more details of what a Republican-controlled House and a Democratic-controlled Senate will mean for American politics over the next two years:

Republicans officially captured control of the House on Wednesday, as the Associated Press called the 218th seat for the party. The House victory ends four years of Democratic control of the lower chamber, handing Republicans the speakership and the chairmanships of key committees, while Democrats will maintain control of the Senate.

But the incoming Republican speaker has the unenviable task of attempting to pass legislation with a very narrow majority, where only a few defections within the party will be enough to kill a bill.

Republicans had hoped that a “red wave” in the midterm elections would allow them to flip dozens of House seats, giving them a much more comfortable majority. Instead, Republicans were barely about to flip the House, and Democrats may even be able to increase their Senate majority depending on the results of the Georgia runoff next month.

With the House and the Senate now both called, Washington is bracing for at least two years of split control of Congress. Here’s what we can expect:

Taking control of the House is a significant victory for Republicans, first and foremost because it puts them in a position to stop Joe Biden and the Democrats’ legislative agenda.

Don’t expect any more Inflation Reduction Acts or American Rescue Plans to get through the chamber for the next two years. Anything resembling a signature Democratic accomplishment will undoubtedly get smacked down as soon as it gets to the House. But divided Congress’ are best known not for doing, but rather not doing. A dynamic you can expect to see over the coming years is the House passing bills that the Senate will ignore, while the Democratic-led Senate will return the favor to Republican legislation that comes its way.

That said, there are things the House can do unilaterally. The Republicans have made plain they intend to use the chamber’s investigative powers to look into the business activities of the president’s son Hunter Biden and the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. In the most extreme corners of the party, there are calls to launch impeachment proceedings against Biden.

Even at its most gridlocked, Congress does still have to pass laws funding the government and raising the debt ceiling, as it’s expected to have to do later next year. That legislation gives the House GOP opportunities to force Biden and the Democratic Senate to agree to enact some of their policies. Expect them to push for more security at the border with Mexico, or perhaps the repeal of some of the provisions of Biden’s marquee Inflation Reduction Act, such as its funding of the Internal Revenue Service, or its efforts to flight climate change.

Republicans have won the House – now they have to govern

Good morning, US politics blog readers. Last night, Republicans scored the victory they needed to gain a majority in the House of Representatives, putting them in a position to force Joe Biden’s White House to the bargaining table if it wants to get any legislation past its members – or hobble his agenda altogether.

But the GOP is still coming to grips with its narrow hold on control of the chamber, after an election that defied their expectations of a “red wave” that would put them decisively in power. The consequences of their struggles have included a surprisingly contentious leadership election, although Kevin McCarthy still appears on course to become House speaker. Expect this dynamic to play out further today.

Here’s what else is going on:

  • House speaker Nancy Pelosi is set to today announce whether she’ll stay in Democratic leadership after being ousted from the chamber’s top job.

  • The Senate will today continue working on its bill to protect same-sex marriage rights, after it survived a crucial vote yesterday.

  • Jury selection begins today in the case of former Donald Trump aide Peter Navarro, who faces contempt of Congress charges for defying a subpoena from the January 6 committee.

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