WASHINGTON (AP) – Nancy Pelosi is responding to a challenge to her position as top House Democrat by proposing to give more influence to junior lawmakers atop congressional committees and within her leadership team.
Pelosi, 76, has been the chamber’s Democratic leader since 2002. She is being challenged by Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan in the aftermath of elections that were disappointing for Democrats who expected Hillary Clinton to be elected president and their party to make sizable gains in the House.
Pelosi appears to be addressing widespread unease among more junior lawmakers who say that opportunities to advance and influence the party’s course are lacking so long as the same senior Democrats remain in charge.
Ryan says he is better able to appeal to Rust Belt and rural areas where Democrats used to perform better. Pelosi points to her successful leadership in the mid-2000s that led the party into the majority for four years.
Pelosi’s core leadership team has been in place for a decade and octogenarians command the top Democratic posts of several powerful committees, including the Judiciary panel and the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which has sweeping jurisdiction over taxes, trade, health care and Social Security.