Nancy Pelosi may be on the verge of being replaced as House speaker as two more Democrat representatives announced they may vote against her.
Reps.-elect Cori Bush of Missouri and Jamaal Bowman of New York tell CNN they are not committed to supporting Pelosi’s re-election as speaker. By rule, the speaker is elected by a majority of the House.
“I am going to make sure that voices of the people of St. Louis are heard and we have what we need. And so you will find out then,” said Bush, who defeated incumbent Democrat Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr. in a primary after accusing him of siding with Pelosi against socialism.
Those statements sound like Bush and Bowman are using the Democrats’ razor-thin majority to cut a deal with Pelosi to save her speakership.
“You will find out when my vote is tallied and, again, organizing with our community to figure out what’s best,” said Bowman.
Both are far-leftists supported by socialist “Squad” members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar, all of whom have publicly criticized Pelosi as insufficiently leftist.
With Democrats holding 223 seats in the 435-member House, just six defections of the full House would leave Pelosi with only 217 votes, one short of the majority needed to win.
That number is even smaller as three House Democrats, Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond, Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, and New Mexico Congresswoman Deb Haaland have resigned to take positions in the Biden administration.
A fourth seat currently held by Democrats, where a winner of the November election has not yet been determined, will automatically become vacant when Congress reconvenes.
That could leave Pelosi with only about 219 Democrats present and voting.
If two or more Democrats withhold support for Pelosi, denying her a majority, she could be forced to either cut a deal for their support or step aside for a different candidate.
With Republicans holding 212 seats, six short of the 218 needed to elect a speaker, it would be impossible for a Republican to win the seat without Democrat support. That means the next speaker will almost certainly be a Democrat.
The question is whether Pelosi can cut a deal to win over her party’s surging socialist wing, or will step aside in favor of a candidate with full Democrat support.
READ NEXT: Meet the Republicans Who Flipped Democrat-Held Seats >>
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AmericanActionNews.com.
The post Pelosi on Verge of Being Overthrown as More House Democrats Defy Her appeared first on American Action News.
from American Action News https://ift.tt/3rCNnNr
https://ift.tt/eA8V8J