2 new members of the progressive 'Squad' won't say whether they'll support Nancy Pelosi's fourth bid for house speaker
Incoming Reps. Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman on Sunday didn't answer if they planned to vote Pelosi in for a fourth term as Speaker of the House.
Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP via Getty Images)
- Reps.-elect Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman on Sunday declined to say whether they will support House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's upcoming bid to retain her role during an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union."
- When Congress returns in the new year, members will vote whether to elect Pelosi for her fourth two-year term as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
- Bush, of Missouri, and Bowman, of New York, are anticipated to be associated with more progressive Democrats in the House, including the group known as "The Squad."
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Reps.-elect Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman on Sunday declined to state in a CNN interview whether they would support California Rep. Nancy Pelosi's bid to be reelected as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Both Bush, of Missouri, and Bowman, of New York, were asked by CNN's Dana Bash during an appearance on "State of the Union" whether they'd support Pelosi's effort to be reelected for her fourth, two-year term.
"I am going to make sure that voices of the people of St. Louis are heard and we have what we need. And so you will find out then," Bush said Sunday, declining to answer one way or another.
Bowman likewise refused to offer a concrete answer.
"You will find out when my vote is tallied and, again, organizing with our community to figure out what's best," Bowman said.
Pelosi in November announced her intention to seek another term as the House speaker. Members of the House will vote when they convene for the first time in the new year on January 3. While Republicans gained 10 seats in the House in the 2020 election, Democrats maintained their lead over the GOP.
Pelosi, the first woman and so far only woman to serve as speaker of the House, was first elected to the position in 2009 but was ousted in 2011 when Republicans won control of the House in the middle of President Barack Obama's first term. She was reelected House Speaker in 2019 when Democrats regained control of the House during the 2018 midterm elections.
—CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 27, 2020
As Insider's Taylor Ardery previously noted, all four members of the group of progressive Democratic lawmakers known as "The Squad," which includes Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, won their races for reelection this year after joining Congress in 2019.
Despite the party's loss of seats his year, their progressive views are likely to be bolstered by the addition of new members of Congress elected this year, notably Bush and Bowman. During an appearance on a podcast with The Intercept, Ocasio-Cortez earlier in December called for new leadership within the Democratic Party.
"Our progressive movement is here to stay, and we're only getting stronger," Bush wrote in an October tweet.
Bowman, who campaigned on an anti-establishment platform, tweeted "it's time for a new era" on Election Day, sharing a photo of himself, Bush, Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, Omar, and Pressley.