Nancy Pelosi Intends to Run for Speaker of the House Again

On Sunday, Nancy Pelosi confirmed that she will run for re-election as House Speaker if the Democrats keep control of the House of Representatives. Pelosi appeared on CNN's State of the Union, where anchor Jake Tapper asked would be running to keep her title. "Yes, I am," she said, "but let me also say that we have to win the Senate."

Pelosi was the first woman ever to be elected Speaker of the House back in 2007, and she held the job until 2011. Republicans won the majority in the House after that, but Pelosi continued to represent California's 12th congressional district while serving as House Minority Leader. Finally, in the 2018 midterm election, Democrats regained control of the House, and Pelosi was re-elected as Speaker in January of 2019, replacing retired Republican Paul Ryan.

.@HouseDemocrats are fighting for:
-Food for the hungry families
-Rent assistance for those facing eviction
-Strategic plan to crush the virus

It’s time for Republicans to accept the science and work with us to achieve these and other goals laid out in the #HeroesAct. pic.twitter.com/uv5dkbqNq8

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) October 25, 2020

Still, all that experience does not necessarily mean that Pelosi will be re-elected after the 2020 presidential election. Now 80 years old, Pelosi has become more and more controversial in her post over the last few months, especially when it comes to the all-important stimulus check negotiations. Many other Democrats had different ideas for passing the legislation and could gravitate towards a different leader if one is presented.

The House Speaker is the presiding officer over the House of Representatives, serving as its head administrator and performing a number of other procedural functions. Technically speaking, any congressional representative can be elected Speaker, although so far only incumbents have held the office. The Speaker is especially important because they are second in the presidential line of succession, assuming the presidency in an emergency if both the president and vice president are somehow unavailable.

The House chooses its own speaker at the beginning of each new Congress — every two years. Naturally, the party with the majority typically chooses one of its own for the role, although representatives are not restricted to voting for the candidate their party puts forth. The minority party chooses a leader for the job as well, just in case.

Pelosi's hopeful call for Democrats to win the majority of seats in the United States Senate has been echoed by other public figures throughout the election. The political stalemate between the Republican-controlled Senate and the Democrat-controlled House has prevented key legislation from being passed — including the second stimulus check, which has been in the works since May. The Senate was also able to acquit President Donald Trump of all the charges brought against him earlier this year, despite his impeachment by the House. The 2020 presidential election is on Tuesday, Nov. 3.