Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn have passed their spots on …
But?
They ARE STILL serving and working for their party and the House as ‘resource’s’….
And Democrats are still getting used to seeing titanic figures like Pelosi, who became one of history’s most powerful speakers, sit in caucus meetings like any other member.
“I wouldn’t think of them as just rank and file,” said Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), who added that he still seeks counsel from Pelosi. “They have a prestige and a status and gravitas that’s still pretty high. And they don’t want to step on the current leadership’s toes.”
None of the former top trio has entirely left the spotlight, instead embracing their positions as the sages of the party. Democrats tapped Hoyer to run a so-called “Regional Leadership Council,” and Clyburn still has a seat at the table through his new job.
Clyburn said in an interview he was resuming an assistant leader post that he occupied “before, when we went into the minority several years ago. … I don’t know why everybody views this as something strange.”
As for the structure of his his new job, Clyburn said: “I am in the line like everybody else.”
The former speaker, in particular, seems to relish her role as an elder stateswoman. In recent days, she’s taken to educating the caucus about what to expect from the looming fight over the debt limit, given her experience navigating a similar situation with Republicans a decade ago. She released a public memo outlining the stakes of the fight and has repeatedly flagged it to lawmakers on the floor, according to a person close to Pelosi who was not authorized to speak on the record.
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), a longtime Pelosi ally, said that ceding the House’s top gavel marked a “huge shift” for Pelosi, but that “she’s loving every one of these moments, too.”
“She relishes it. She feels, in her own words, ‘liberated,’” Eshoo said. She added that Pelosi had no desire to meddle in the caucus’ affairs because “she’s a thoroughbred professional.”…
image…E & E News