Nancy Pelosi says she's happy to become House speaker again, but only as a 'transitional figure'

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

published 19 October 2018

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is still very intent on returning as House speaker — but she doesn't want to stick around for long.

As Democrats look more and more likely to retake the House this fall, Pelosi has constantly asserted she'll retake Congress' top spot if that's the case. Meanwhile, many progressives have been reluctant to support — or have even outright challenged — that assumption. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times published Friday, Pelosi gave her first indication that she's listening to those concerns.

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Pelosi would've stepped down earlier had Hillary Clinton been elected, she tells the Times, saying she feels "a very strong responsibility to stay in this office for at least the next two years" while President Trump is president. But she's not about to "make myself a lame duck" and explicitly reveal when she'll step down, she continued. And when she does leave, Pelosi says it's "not up to me" to choose a successor — though she would like to see another woman on top.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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