As Pelosi Steps Down, a New Name Emerges

Other top Democrats announced Thursday that they'll follow Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of top House leadership while remaining members of Congress. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina said immediately after Pelosi's announcement that they too will step aside, the Hill reports. Their decisions clear the way for New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who now chairs the House Democratic Caucus, to run for minority leader for the next Congress, which will be the top party job once Republicans take control of the House. Hoyer has been in Congress for more than 40 years and has held the No. 2 House position in his party since 2003.

"Now is the time for a new generation of leaders," Hoyer, 83, said in endorsing Jeffries, whom he called "a skilled and capable leader," per the Washington Post. Hoyer said he'll return to the Appropriations Committee, where he served early in his career, to concentrate on education, health care, and increasing US manufacturing. Though he won't stay on in a top post, Clyburn said he'd remain as assistant minority leader, the fourth-highest position. Like Hoyer, he backed Jeffries, 52, while adding endorsements of the two members planning to seek the two spots immediately below speaker: Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark and California Rep. Pete Aguilar. House Democrats plan to vote on the positions on Nov. 30, per the Wall Street Journal. (More Steny Hoyer stories.)