Pelosi to step down from US House Speaker role

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who became Speaker of the House in 2007, announced that she will step down from her congressional leadership role, ending a two-decade streak as the top House Democrat.

Pelosi’s statement, on Thursday, comes after signs that the Democrats will narrowly lose their House majority to Republicans following the midterm elections. Pelosi will remain a Congress member where she has been since 1987.

Current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is the top candidate to become Pelosi’s successor as speaker in the next Congress. On Tuesday, McCarthy won a party vote to become the GOP nominee for speaker, though he secured fewer votes than the 218 he will need when the full House casts its leadership votes in early January.

McCarthy is against any attempt to grant a “blank check” for continued multi-billion dollar US funding for Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion.