Nancy Pelosi is potentially facing a serious challenge in her effort to remain Speaker of the House, according to Fox News.
Tom Emmer, Minnesota Representative and chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee said, “I mean Nancy Pelosi doesn’t even have a majority where she can be elected speaker again.”
“Whoever would have guessed that it’d be possible that Nancy Pelosi might not be the speaker?” Emmer asked.
“I know the vote on the floor is difficult for Speaker. I know there was a number of people who did not vote for her last time,” House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy said.
“And as our numbers continue to grow, I think at the end of the day, no matter where we end up, we’ll be able to have a very big say, or even run the floor when it comes to policy,” McCarthy continued.
The voice vote for Speaker of the House requires a majority. Typically, each Republican yells out the name of their party leader, who is currently Kevin McCarthy, and Democrats announce their vote for Pelosi. The party in power, with the numbers on their side, wins the vote.
According to Fox News, “Pelosi has struck deals and maneuvered to squash internal challenges to her leadership before. She overcame defectors in the past, including those from moderate Democrats who had pledged to vote against her if elected. In 2019, there were 15 Democrats who didn’t support her, but she could afford the losses with a bigger majority.”
As ballots are still being counted, it is unclear how small the Democrats’ majority will be heading into the new year.
