Nancy Pelosi Says She's Not Interested in Being House Speaker Again

Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has publicly stated that she doesn't intend to be Speaker of the House again in the future.

"No, that's not my thing. I did that," she told the National Journal in an interview published the Thursday, when asked if she wants to return to her former role.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. , waves as she arrives to speak at a rally to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2013, in Washington. (Photo: AP)

The first female House Speaker in history, 73-year-old Nancy Pelosi "celebrated her silver anniversary on Capitol Hill last year," the Hill writes.

"She has been notoriously reticent about how long she intends to stay in Congress, and has already defied mass speculation that she might step down after the last two election cycles," the paper continues.  "Instead, the energetic San Francisco liberal has spent the last 32 months as minority leader, scrambling at a frenetic pace to promote the Democrats' message and raise money for the sole purpose of returning her party to the majority — and, it was thought, the Speaker's gavel to her own hand."

The Huffington Post adds that President Obama said in April that it would be "whole lot easier to govern" if Pelosi returned to her former role.

This is the first time Pelosi has publicly put some of the speculation to rest.  But while she may not be interested in being House Speaker again, she certainly doesn't seem finished with partisan politics.

Throughout the National Journal interview, she said things along the lines of, "[The Republicans'] agenda is nothing, and their timetable is never," and that they can't compromise if Republicans "are just going to hold their ideological position and say, 'We can be irresponsible because the Democrats are going to be responsible.'"

She also said there is a "confidence about the inevitability" of immigration reform.

"As Abraham Lincoln said, public sentiment is everything," she concluded, "and the public is speaking out on this one."

--

[related]