“As you know, this is my – this – I thought last week might have been – but this is my final weekly press conference,” said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Thursday. “And some of you have been covering Congress for a long time. Others are new. All of you are Guardians of Democracy.”
She went on to talk sports, representation in government, “doggie doo” Republican proposals and more.
Pelosi, 82, has represented San Francisco in Congress for 35 years and in 2007 was elected to serve as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history. She announced in December that she would step down as leader of the party, though she will still serve in the House of Representatives through at least 2023.
Rep. Hakeem Jefferies (D-N.Y.) was selected to fill her position in the party, per CBS News. Since Republicans gained House seats during the midterms, Rep.
Kevin McCarthy (D-Calif.) is expected to be the new speaker.
However, The Daily Beast reported that McCarthy is not a given, due to opposition within the GOP. When asked if she though Republicans would choose a speaker in a timely fashion Thursday, Pelosi said she did.
“I don’t think anybody needs any advice from anybody,” she said in response to a question about whether she had advice for her successor. “I’m not going to be the mother‑in‑law who comes in and say, ‘This is the way my son likes his turkey stuffing, his scrambled eggs,’ or anything else.”
When Pelosi was first elected to Congress, she was one of around two dozen women serving.
“I – when I came to Congress, there were 23 women, 13 Democrats – no, 12 Democrats and 11 Republicans. Out of 435 people, there were 23. Over 400 men and 23 women. Come on, you know, get out of here,” she said.
While she is happy with progress in representation over the past decades, Pelosi said she wants to see more.
“And I take great pride that our Caucus is about 70% women, people of color, LGBTQ, the beautiful diversity of America,” she said.
Pelosi also remarked on her experience working with GOP.
“Republicans would roll out stuff that sounded like a chocolate sundae, but it’s more like doggie doo. But it looked good, and it played well in districts,” Pelosi said. She also referred to former Republican President Donald Trump as “what’s-his-name,” and did not acknowledge him as a president.
To start off her speech, Pelosi mentioned meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, which has been battling a Russian invasion since early this year. Additionally, she mentioned the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill that includes support for Ukraine.
“This week was also marked by a focus on Democracy here at home,” Pelosi said. “Today, the world will see the final report of the bipartisan Select Committee to Investigate January 6th, after eighteen months of tirelessly defending Democracy.”
Pelosi thanked the press near the end of her speech and said that she plans to have a “strong influence” going forward that includes encouraging more women to run for office. She made some sports jokes too.
“But the Speaker of the House is a very big job, and just wrapping it up will take time, with the Library of Congress for the papers, with the Historian of the Capitol – of the Congress – in terms of interviews and the rest of that,” Pelosi said.
