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Whispers become salvos as 16 rebels buck Pelosi

The letter made official what had until Monday been little more than a Democratic whisper campaign aimed at demonstrating that Pelosi, 78, would not have the votes to become speaker.

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It is also exposing significant divisions just as Democrats take the majority.

In a letter to Democratic colleagues, 11 lawmakers and four newly elected members of the House declared that “the time has come for new leadership,” and said they would vote accordingly both when their party meets next week for an internal round of secret balloting to choose leaders and in a floor vote in January. (Another signatory, Ben McAdams of Utah, remains locked in a tight race against Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah.)

The letter made official what had until Monday been little more than a Democratic whisper campaign aimed at demonstrating that Pelosi, 78, would not have the votes to become speaker. Its organizers have hoped that threat would compel her to step aside or broker a compromise aimed at bringing fresher faces to the helm of their newly ascendant party.

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But so far Pelosi, the first woman to serve as speaker, has shown no willingness to do either, expressing supreme confidence that she will reclaim her old post.

“We are thankful to Leader Pelosi for her years of service to our country and our caucus,” they wrote, calling Pelosi “a historic figure whose leadership has been instrumental to some of our party’s most important legislative achievements.”

But the signers said Democrats had won this month’s midterm elections on a “message of change.”

“Our majority came on the backs of candidates who said that they would support new leadership because voters in hard-won districts, and across the country, want to see real change in Washington,” the letter said. “We promised to change the status quo, and we intend to deliver on that promise.”

It is not clear who will step up to help them do so. No Democrat has yet been willing to come forward and publicly challenge Pelosi, a battle-tested leader who has made it clear she means to fight. If there is one thing Pelosi excels at, it is counting votes, and the letter was designed to make explicit a troublesome tally.

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If all 435 members of the House were present and voting, Pelosi would need a majority of 218 to be elected speaker. Democrats now control 232 seats, according to The New York Times’ latest count, meaning that 16 defectors would be enough to deny her the post. Still, the numbers could change, with four races yet to be called.

Organizers who had collected 17 signatures on the letter as of late last week had hoped to demonstrate more opposition to Pelosi, holding off on releasing it so they could draw 20 or more names; their decision to put it out Monday with fewer names than they had originally hoped for raised questions about whether the effort was flagging.

But the list of potential “no” votes is longer. The letter does not include a handful of Democrats who have made it clear they will not vote for Pelosi, including Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa., and newly elected House members Jared Golden of Maine, Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia.

Organizers of the letter argue that its signatories are the leading edge of a much wider group who would support new leaders if given the chance. But its vague wording — it mentions the need for “new leadership,” but does not contain the word “speaker” — appears to leave the door open for other changes at the top. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., 79, is running to reclaim his former spot as majority leader, and Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., 78, is seeking to return to the No. 3 position as whip. Pelosi endorsed both Monday, confirming that she means to keep the long-standing top-three lineup.

Pelosi has cast doubt on the efforts of her detractors — “have you seen the letter?” she demanded of a reporter last week when asked about it — and noted that no one has come forward to directly contest her. And Monday, her allies reacted to the public dissent with the equivalent of an eye roll and a shoulder shrug, arguing that any strategy that relied on Pelosi retreating in the face of a challenge was doomed.

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“Leader Pelosi remains confident in her support among members and members-elect,” said Drew Hammill, her deputy chief of staff.

The formal start of the effort to oust Pelosi has laid bare the many crosscurrents — generational, gender, racial and others — pulling at Democrats as they prepare to assume control of the House and act as a counterweight to President Donald Trump, who has reveled at highlighting their divisions.

The letter was spearheaded by Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, 45, a centrist who challenged Pelosi for minority leader in 2016, and Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., 40, a Harvard-educated Marine veteran who has focused on recruiting and helping veterans running for Congress as Democrats, including a handful who campaigned and won while promising not to back Pelosi.

Pelosi’s allies have characterized the opposition as driven primarily by men, a feature underscored by the letter, which is signed by only two women, Reps. Kathleen Rice of New York and Linda Sánchez of California.

Among those who have called for fresh faces are members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who have said someone from their ranks should get one of the two top slots in the event of any vacancy. But no member of the group signed the letter, including Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, 66, whose name was conspicuously absent.

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Fudge said last week that she would consider running for speaker and had previously signed a draft of the defectors’ missive, according to Democratic aides who insisted on anonymity to discuss the process of gathering signatures. A spokeswoman for Fudge did not respond Monday to an inquiry about why the congresswoman removed her name. But one person familiar with the discussions, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that Ryan had removed his name from a similar letter in 2016, in preparation for his run against Pelosi.

Allies of Pelosi swung into action Monday, rallying to her side as her office trickled out endorsements from critical constituencies. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., put out a letter signed by eight other Democrats who are veterans in which they praised her commitment to their issues and her national security bona fides.

Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Pa., also released a letter, praising Pelosi’s “stamina” and crediting her with holding Democrats together on critical issues. Pelosi aides provided a copy of a letter from Harold A. Schaitberger, general president of the International Association of Firefighters, who praised her “fortitude, leadership, tenacity and courage.”

Even as Pelosi braced for a challenge, Clyburn appeared to fend one off. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., said she was dropping her bid to challenge him.

Her withdrawal means that in the face of escalating discussion about the need for fresh faces to lead Democrats, the tally of lawmakers who have declared their intentions to run against one of the top three leaders — all with a decade or more of service at the helm of their party — stands at zero.

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The New York Times

Julie Hirschfeld Davis © 2018 The New York Times

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