Nancy Pelosi, first female US House speaker, to retire from Congress

Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the United States House of Representatives, has announced that she will not seek re-election, retiring from Congress at the end of her term in early 2027.

Pelosi, who has been serving in Congress since 1987, paid tribute to her home city of San Francisco in a video message on Thursday as she announced her decision.

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“I want you, my fellow San Franciscans, to be the first to know I will not be seeking re-election to Congress,” Pelosi, 85, said.

“With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative.”

Seen as one of the most powerful figures in the modern Democratic Party, Pelosi served stints as House speaker, from 2007 to 2011 and from 2019 to 2023.

At the end of her second tenure, she stepped down from the House leadership of the Democratic Party, paving the way for Congressman Hakeem Jeffries to become minority leader and potential speaker if Democrats regain control of the chamber.

She retains the honourary title speaker emerita.

As legislative leader, Pelosi pursued left-of-centre policies. Among her most notable achievements was shepherding former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which became law in 2010, through the House.

During the first Trump presidency, Pelosi emerged as a leading figure in the opposition. When Democrats took the House in 2019, she stifled his legislative agenda.

As Trump delivered his 2020 State of the Union address, Pelosi ripped up a copy of his speech while standing behind him on the podium.

As the ideological gap within the Democratic Party began to grow with the rise of vocal, progressive lawmakers, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, Pelosi had to manage the task of keeping a united caucus.

When Pelosi was elected speaker in 2019 and 2021, some conservative Democrats refused to back her.

Still, between 2021 and 2023, Pelosi was able to help Democrats pass major bills to propel then-President Joe Biden’s agenda, including a massive COVID-19 relief package and $1.2 trillion in infrastructure spending.

Even after being replaced by Jeffries as the Democrats’ House chief, Pelosi appeared to retain some of her influence within the party.

After Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Trump last year, Pelosi was widely reported to have led efforts to convince the then-president to end his campaign.

In 2022, an assailant broke into Pelosi’s home in San Francisco and assaulted her husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer, fracturing his skull. The former House speaker was not at the house during the attack.

Pelosi has been a prolific stock trader, raising concerns about the possibility of her using information unavailable to the public to enrich herself.

Earlier this year, a Republican Congress member introduced a bill to ban legislators from trading stocks, titled Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act.

In July, Pelosi backed the potential ban. “While I appreciate the creativity of my Republican colleagues in drafting legislative acronyms, I welcome any serious effort to raise ethical standards in public service,” she said in a statement.

Pelosi’s left-wing critics have accused her of catering to the centrist wing of the party and failing to push progressive policies, including universal health care. But for many on the right, the former speaker is the embodiment of liberal, tax-and-spend policies.

On foreign policy, Pelosi has been a strong supporter of Ukraine and a China hawk. In 2022, she visited Taiwan, sparking a crisis between Beijing and Washington.

Pelosi opposed the Iraq war in 2003, but has been a staunch supporter of Israel.

“If this Capitol crumbled to the ground, the one thing that would remain would be our commitment to our aid – I don’t even call it our aid – our cooperation with Israel. That’s fundamental to who we are,” Pelosi said in 2018.

Dozens of Democratic lawmakers heaped praise on Pelosi on Thursday, describing her as a historically important figure.

“Nancy D’Alesandro Pelosi is an iconic, heroic, trailblazing, legendary and transformational leader. She is the greatest Speaker of all time,” Jeffries said in a statement.

“The United States is a much better nation today because Nancy Pelosi dedicated her life to serving the children, the climate, the country and the American people.”