Pelosi may win speakership on term-limit deal with House Democrats: reports

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Does Nancy Pelosi have the votes to win speakership?

House Democrats could announce as early as Wednesday that they have reached a deal that would limit Rep. Nancy Pelosi to a term of four years if she is elected speaker in January, according to reports.

In exchange, a group of Democrats who have publicly opposed Pelosi’s bid to reclaim the position she held from 2007 to 2011 would vote in support of the lawmaker from San Francisco, Politico reported. The exact number of Democrats who would change their votes was unclear.

“It’s pretty much done,” a source told Politico. “The issue is, How do we wrap this up? What are the procedural steps that we need to get this done?”

On Nov. 28, 203 House Democrats formally nominated Pelosi as their choice for the job, but 32 Democrats did not support her.

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When the full House votes Jan. 3, Pelosi will need 218 votes to win the speaker’s role, if all House members vote. Whether additional Democrats joining the fold would put her January vote total over the top remained unclear.

At least five anti-Pelosi Democrats have confirmed they will switch their vote, according to CBS News. They are Reps. Ed Perlmutter and Linda Sanchez, both of California; Bill Foster of Illinois; Filemon Vela of Texas; and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, the CBS report said.

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But Politico reported that at least three Democrats have opposed a term-limit plan. They include Reps. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, Maxine Waters of California and David Scott of Georgia, the report said.

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The Republican nominee for speaker would be Minority Leader-designate Kevin McCarthy, also of California, but he is unlikely to win because the incoming House will be controlled by Democrats following their victories in the Nov. 6 midterm elections.

The new House will be composed of 235 Democrats and 200 Republicans. The GOP previously held a 235-193 edge, with seven vacant seats.

The term-limit deal for Pelosi would also apply to Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., Politico reported.

Pelosi, 78, has been serving in Congress since 1987. When she was elected speaker in 2007, she became the first woman, first Californian and first Italian-American to hold the position, which is second in the line of succession to the presidency, after the vice president.