Speaker Nancy Pelosi secured her caucus’s nomination for another term leading the House on Wednesday as Democrats kicked off their multi-day leadership elections for the new Congress.
Pelosi is running unopposed and only needed a simple majority of the Democratic Caucus during the secret ballot vote. But she’ll still have to clinch 218 votes on the House floor in January to officially become speaker — and she has a much narrower majority to work with this time around after Democrats lost more than half a dozen seats on Election Day.
Democrats will also nominate House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) for new terms — cementing the trio that has ruled the caucus for the last 14 years.
All three leaders are in their 80s.
