Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has officially announced her retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives. The expected announcement came on Thursday morning, when she released a statement confirming she will not seek another term after nearly 40 years in office.
“I want you, my fellow San Franciscans, to be the first to know I will not be seeking reelection to Congress,” the 85-year-old said in a video. “With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative as we go forward.”
After arriving in Congress in 1987, Pelosi served as the U.S. House Speaker during two four-year periods: 2007 to 2011, and again from 2019 to 2023. From 2011 to 2019, she was the House Minority Leader. After Democrats lost the House in 2023, she announced she would not seek any kind of leadership post.
Pelosi exits office worth around $120 million, most of it made by her husband Paul, and under a cloud of congressional insider trading.
Pelosi’s legacy will very much be tied to the failed back-room maneuvering that was vital to the launch of what will now be remembered as the Trump Era. She impeached him over nonsense … twice. She rigged the lawless January 6 Committee to get a specific outcome, one most voters found laughable, considering she was the one who (as then-Speaker) held the responsibility for protecting the U.S. Capitol Building and refused President Trump’s request for National Guard security.
One can only guess, but it seems hard to believe she didn’t play some role in the multiple indictments Trump faced in numerous states, all of which ended in disgrace.
All of this backfired spectacularly.
Mostly, though, Pelosi helped Trump win his historic second-term comeback in 2024 by backing Joe Biden and his disastrous policies, everything from open borders to appeasing Iran to vaccine mandates and all the terrible choices that led to record inflation. Worse still was her role in the cover-up of Biden’s cognitive decline and her immediate endorsement of Kamala Harris to take Biden’s place in the 2024 presidential election, which meant no primary for the so-called pro-democracy party.
Above all, Pelosi was so polarizing and divisive that throughout her role on the national stage after becoming House Speaker in 2007, she was not only one of the most consistently unpopular politicians in the country, but she also helped the GOP raise money like no one else.
Bye, Nancy. You won’t be missed. Enjoy your ice cream and Scrooge McDuck pile of unearned money.
John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.
