Around this time three years ago, Rep. Nancy Pelosi did something unexpected: The California Democrat announced that she would remain in Congress but step down as her party’s leader in the U.S. House, passing the torch to Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
Three years later, the House speaker emerita is taking the next step: After almost four decades on Capitol Hill, Pelosi is retiring at the end of her current term.
The nation’s first woman to serve as House speaker released a video on Thursday morning to announce that she is not seeking a 21st term in 2026.
“With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative,” she said in a message to her constituents in San Francisco, whom she celebrated in the nearly six-minute clip.
There will be plenty of speculation about who might succeed the congresswoman in her Bay Area district, but for now, it’s worth acknowledging the career of the most accomplished House speaker in generations.
As regular readers know, it was Pelosi, first elected in 1987, who helped pass the Recovery Act, which ended the Great Recession. It was Pelosi who ensured the Affordable Care Act became law. It was Pelosi whose record includes historic legislative victories on everything from civil rights to Wall Street reform, student loans to Covid-19 relief, climate change to infrastructure.
Not to put too fine a point on this, but lawmakers and leaders with records like Pelosi’s tend to have buildings named after them.
When the San Franciscan stepped down from her party’s leadership a few years ago, then-President Joe Biden said in a written statement, “History will note she is the most consequential Speaker of the House of Representatives in our history.”
As Pelosi’s career nears its end, there’s no reason to consider that assessment hyperbolic in the slightest.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
