During a just-completed press conference, the House Democrats who were seeking to delay the vote on the House Democratic leadership have conceded. They now say that the leadership elections will be held today, and that Speaker Pelosi will be elected as Democratic Minority Leader.
This attempt to delay the vote was a last ditch attempt by the anti-Pelosi forces in this campaign. With their defeat and concession, this campaign is over, and Pelosi has emerged victorious. The vote was resounding, too--129 to 68.
Thank you to the more than 32,000 members of the Daily Kos community who signed our petition in support of Speaker Pelosi, a petition which was delivered to her office last week.
Also, now that Pelosi is certain to win, there is a new effort, led by Blue Dogs, to strip her of her power to pick committee chairs. It is highly likely that effort will be defeated, given that the vote to delay the leadership elections was a proxy vote for Pelosi's power overall.
Over email, our own procedural expert, David Waldman, provides some more context and information on the committee chair fight:
Committee assignments are the job of the House Democratic Caucus's Steering & Policy Committee, so technically it's not really the Speaker or Minority Leader herself who hand picks everything.
However, the Speaker or Minority Leader pretty much hand picks who gets to be on the Steering & Policy Committee. That might well be a topic for debate inside the Caucus. But as with all such things, the assignments are very political. Meaning not only that the Speaker or Leader gets to put Members on the Steering & Policy Committee, but also that she has to make those choices while being mindful of the various factions who have to feel represented. And the larger (or more powerful), the more attention has to be paid to it.
Right now, the Conservadem faction just isn't that big, and it's lost a considerable amount of power. Much more so within the Caucus than in the House. In the House, they can often play dealmaker with Republicans. But inside the Democratic Caucus, they're hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned. You'll want to give them a nod and listen to their concerns just like anyone else, but what power they have just isn't in the inside caucus game.
Remember, elections -- even within the caucus -- have consequences.
More as the story develops. There will be a resolution today.