Nancy Pelosi to retire from Congress after nearly 40 years

[WASHINGTON] Nancy Pelosi, the 85-year-old California Democrat and first woman to serve as US House speaker, said she’ll retire from Congress.

Pelosi led House Democrats for almost two decades, encompassing two stretches as speaker under four presidents. She announced her retirement in a video posted on X Thursday (Nov 6) morning.

Her departure leaves a vacancy in a solidly Democratic San Francisco-based seat for the first time in nearly 40 years. More broadly, Pelosi’s retirement creates a hole in national Democratic leadership, underscoring questions about the future of a party that has struggled to find a winning message in the era of President Donald Trump. 

A fierce legislative tactician and prolific fundraiser, she was instrumental in securing signature policy achievements for Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, holding together a fractious caucus marked by tensions between progressives and centrists. This also made her a prime target for Republicans, who cast her as a villain in attack ads to motivate their voters. BLOOMBERG