Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Pelosi fires back at reporter: ‘Don’t bother me with a question like that!’

It’s not unheard of for a former House speaker not to finish a full term once back in the minority

Andrew Feinberg
Thursday 15 December 2022 17:02 EST
Comments
Portrait of Nancy Pelosi unveiled

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday briefly lost her patience with a reporter who pressed her on whether she’d represent her San Francisco district for the entirety of the 118th Congress, despite not being among the House Democratic leadership for the first time in two decades.

Ms Pelosi was speaking at a press conference on Thursday when a reporter asked her if she’d “commit to serving your full two-year term for the people of San Francisco”.

The speaker, who has represented her San Francisco constituency since 1987, snapped: “What is this? Don’t bother me with a question like that!”

“Those kind of questions are such a waste of my time,” she added.

Despite Ms Pelosi’s dismissal of the query, there is precedent for a former House speaker to resign after their party loses control of the House.

In November 2007, former GOP Speaker Denis Hastert submitted his resignation from Congress, one year after Democrats – led by Ms Pelosi – ended 12 years of Republican control amid discontent with the US war in Iraq.

Mr Hastert, an Illinois congressman who would later be convicted of violating US laws against structuring bank transactions to avoid reporting withdrawals he used to pay hush money to a former student he’d molested while serving as a high school wrestling coach, was elected to a full term even as his party lost the majority, but stood down after a year, citing health reasons.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in