Pelosi moves to lock up the votes on verge of speaker nomination

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The longtime Democratic leader triumphs after meeting with some of her most vocal critics.

Nancy Pelosi is one step closer to a historic return to the speakership, having handily won her party’s nomination to lead the House in the 116th Congress.

The vote was 203 -32, with three blank ballots and one absent.

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The 78-year-old Pelosi will now try to return to the speaker’s chair for the first time since Democrats lost their majority in 2010. A final vote on the floor will take place on Jan. 3.

Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) were unopposed for House majority leader and majority whip, putting the septuagenarian trio back in the same posts they held in the last Democratic majority.

In the hours leading up to Wednesday’s vote, Pelosi tried to lock down support. She cut a deal with the Problems Solvers Caucus over rules changes, sealing support from nine Democratic members of the group who had threatened to vote against her.

And Pelosi met with three of her most vocal critics — Reps. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), and Tim Ryan (D-Ohio ) — in a bid to win over hardcore opponents.

The anti-Pelosi group had held a private discussion on Tuesday evening, during which some lawmakers raised the possibility of backing Pelosi if she agreed to a transition timeline for new leadership, said the sources.

But the Wednesday gathering between Pelosi and her opponents did not lead to a truce.

“Moments ago we met with Leader Pelosi and tried to engage her in a reasonable conversation about leadership transition,” Rice said in a statement. “Unfortunately, our concerns were dismissed outright. We remain united behind our goal of new leadership and intend to vote against Leader Pelosi in Caucus and on the Floor of the House.”

Pelosi, was more successful in closing the deal with the Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group of lawmakers who want to rewrite House rules to make it easier to legislate.

The dual tracks to round up more votes took place just as Pelosi was on the verge of making history once again. The legendary Texas Democrat Sam Rayburn was the last lawmaker to lose the speaker’s gavel and then get it back, a feat the 78-year-old Pelosi is now trying to repeat.

Anti-Pelosi Democrats had been downplaying expectations heading into Wednesday’s closed-door meeting. They had hoped to get roughly 20 votes opposing Pelosi inside the Democratic Caucus.

Inside the caucus, Pelosi was nominated by Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy, while a group of eight lawmakers — that includes incoming freshmen Angie Craig of Minnesota, Veronica Escobar of Texas, and Rep.-elect Katie Hill of California — seconded the nomination. Civil rights icon John Lewis of Georgia also spoke on Pelosi’s behalf.

Kennedy’s support for Pelosi is notable because another Massachusetts Democrat, Moulton, is one of her most outspoken critics inside the party.

Pelosi used the speaker ballot as something of a safety valve by allowing vulnerable Democrats to vote “no.” This enables Democrats who won races where Pelosi was an issue to say they opposed her return to the speaker’s chair, but now must back her since she has the overwhelming support of the Democratic Caucus.

Behind the scenes, Pelosi and other Democratic leaders were also dealing with other potential Democratic Caucus rules changes as they sought to lock down votes.

In the days leading up to the vote, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) floated the idea of opening up the secret ballot election so that incoming freshmen who ran on a platform of opposing Pelosi or electing new leadership could show constituents they did.

But Pelosi instead opted to include “yes” and “no” checkboxes under her nomination to give members-elect the option of voting against her in caucus — with, of course, the notion that they would back her when she needs them most on the House floor on Jan. 3.

On that day, Pelosi needs half of the House — not merely half the Democrats. And she can only lose 17 votes.

Democrats predicted that incoming freshmen would likely snap pictures of their ballots showing their opposition to Pelosi in caucus. But that’s all part of a carefully crafted Pelosi plan to allow some incoming members to argue they opposed her even if they support her on the House floor.

Connolly predicted Pelosi would receive less opposition this year than previously, when she lost 63 Democrats to Ryan for minority leader.

“It was easy to cast a protest vote two years ago, and you had an opponent,” the Virginia Democrat said. “This is serious. This is now for speaker. And you have to really assess carefully what are the qualities, what are the skill sets and who has them. And I think that makes it harder frankly.”

Party leaders have also been fending off other potential Democratic Caucus rules changes. One would require the party’s speaker nominee get 218 votes, a shot at Pelosi. Another would limit the party leadership’s control over committee assignments.

Another rules change would require any lawmaker who is a part of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee hierarchy to back incumbents only. This is aimed at Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who backed Rep. Dan Lipinski’s (D-Ill.) primary challenger.