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Jake Tapper Grills Nancy Pelosi On Her Future

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


House Speaker and California Rep. Nancy Pelosi faces an uncertain future both as Speaker and as a representative.

There is a decent chance that Republicans will win back the House in the 2022 midterm elections, which would relegate Pelosi back to the role of Minority Leader, the position Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy currently holds.

And at the current age of 80, it is a mystery if Pelosi would want to be in the House minority again after two stints as Speaker.

She spoke to CNN host Jake Tapper on a myriad of subjects on Sunday but, among those, was her possible election campaign for 2022 when the host asked her if she intended to seek the position again.

“You think I’m going to make an announcement right here and now?” she said.

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“You’re gonna run for re-election though, yes?” the host said.

“Why would I tell you that now?” she said as she left.

“It’s not just me, it’s the American people. It’s the world. This is an international show,” he said.

“Probably I would have that conversation with my family first if you don’t mind,” she said.

During the interview she postulated that Democrats could act alone to raise the debt ceiling again in December using budget reconciliation.

“That’s one path. But we’re still hoping to have bipartisanship,” she said on “State of the Union,” CNN reported.

In September, Pelosi previously said raising the debt ceiling would not be done through reconciliation as part of the Democrats’ sweeping social safety net package, which President Joe Biden and leaders in his party are still negotiating.

Congress earlier this month approved an extension of the nation’s debt limit through December 3, averting an economic crisis only to have to deal with it again in a few more weeks.

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Republicans have insisted that Democrats act alone to address the debt limit by using reconciliation, which allows senators to bypass the typical 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster and advance legislation. Democrats, however, argue that the issue is a bipartisan responsibility and have largely dismissed reconciliation as an option, arguing it’s a too-lengthy and risky process.

Another concern for Democrats raising the debt limit through reconciliation is that it would require Democrats to vote for exactly how much they want to raise it by — an incredibly tough vote for Democrats running for reelection.

After Republicans helped to raise the debt ceiling this month Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned President Joe Biden that Republicans would not help again.

“Last night, Republicans filled the leadership vacuum that has troubled the Senate since January. I write to inform you that I will not provide such assistance again if your all-Democrat government drifts into another avoidable crisis,” he said.

“The Senate Democratic Leader had three months’ notice to handle one of his most basic governing duties. Amazingly, even this proved to be asking too much. Senator Schumer spent 11 weeks claiming he lacked the time and the leadership skills to manage a straightforward process that would take less than two weeks. Whether through weakness or an intentional effort to bully his own members, Senator Schumer marched the nation to the doorstep of disaster. Embarrassingly, it got to the point where Senators on both sides were pleading for leadership to fill the void and protect our citizens. I stepped up.

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“Remarkably, even as Republicans saved Americans from his crisis, Senator Schumer kept compounding his failures. Last night, in a bizarre spectacle, Senator Schumer exploded in a rant that was so partisan, angry, and corrosive that even Democratic Senators were visibly embarrassed by him and for him. This tantrum encapsulated and escalated a pattern of angry incompetence from Senator Schumer. It was reminiscent of last year when he joined a protest on the steps of the Supreme Court and shouted threats at individual Justices by name,” the senator said.

“This childish behavior only further alienated the Republican members who helped facilitate this short-term patch. It has poisoned the well even further.

“I am writing to make it clear that in light of Senator Schumer’s hysterics and my grave concerns about the ways that another vast, reckless, partisan spending bill would hurt Americans and help China, I will not be a party to any future effort to mitigate the consequences of Democratic mismanagement. Your lieutenants on Capitol Hill now have the time they claimed they lacked to address the debt ceiling through standalone reconciliation, and all the tools to do it. They cannot invent another crisis and ask for my help,” he said.

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