Two incoming liberal representatives who are set to join the far-left “Squad” refused to commit to endorsing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s bid to keep the top leadership role.
Rep.-elect Cori Bush, D-Mo., dodged the question entirely when asked if she would help reelect Pelosi when Congress convenes next year.
“I am going to make sure that voices of the people of St. Louis are heard and we have what we need,” Bush told CNN this week. “And so you will find out then.”
Rep.-elect Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., also declined to answer the question, saying Americans “will find out when my vote is tallies, and, again, I will be organizing with our community to figure out what’s best.”
Several House Democrats considered to be on the more moderate end of the spectrum have already pledged to oppose Pelosi’s reelection as speaker: Reps. Conor Lamb, D-Pa.; Jared Golden, D-Maine; and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.
“I made a pledge in the spring of 2019, before I was elected. I’ve discussed that personally with [Pelosi], one on one,” Slotkin said. “That, to me, is a commitment that I made to my district. It just doesn’t change based on the ups and downs here.”
Pelosi narrowly won the speakership last time around, and now that Republicans hold a larger share of House seats than they did in 2018, Pelosi can only afford to lose a handful of Democrats.
Some Democrats are concerned that defections will allow Republicans to oust Pelosi entirely and elect House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
“Let’s say, just theoretically, we had six or eight people out with COVID and the Republicans have none. They probably could elect McCarthy,” Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., explained.
Predictably, Pelosi is already trying to squash dissent.
“If someone votes for Colin Powell, it counts for the GOP,” Pelosi told fellow Democrats earlier this month, citing the former secretary of State—a centrist who left the Republican Party and endorsed Joe Biden—as an example of how any defections would be self-defeating.
“We need people to vote with the nominee,” she continued. “That would be me.”
