After House Democrats passed a $3.5 trillion partisan budget plan on Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is getting all the credit for bringing together two diametrically opposed groups in her party to make it happen. “I want to thank Speaker Pelosi, who was masterful in her leadership on this,” President Biden said Tuesday.
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The budget blueprint championed by liberal Democrats passed the House with all Democrats on board, after Pelosi promised moderates that they’ll get to vote on a bipartisan infrastructure bill in a month. Just a couple hours earlier, both sides were threatening to tank both pieces of legislation. Yet after a day of intense negotiations, led by Pelosi, both sides somehow got what they wanted without really giving much to the other.
Why are so many people saying Pelosi is so efficient at her job? Pelosi’s office declined to comment for this story. We talked to people who have studied her and worked with her and came up with a few traits, such as:
She knows whom she’s working with
When a group of lawmakers are being difficult, Pelosi tries to decipher who is posturing and who is opposing legislation out of an act of political necessity.
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“That’s sounds like it’s something that’s easy to do,” said Matthew Green, a professor at Catholic University who has written several books about House politics, “but it really is not, because members of Congress are very good at giving the impression they care very deeply about things.”
Pelosi is savvy enough to see through a lot of politicking — she’s a politician too, after all. (She’s been in Congress 34 years, longer than some of the House members have been alive.)
Her strategy can leave some feeling burned. Some of the moderate lawmakers who had a showdown with Pelosi this week came across as aggrieved that she didn’t treat their threats as serious. “I can’t explain why the serious negotiations didn’t happen until the 11th hour,” Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) said of Democratic leadership in an interview with Politico.
She knows when to be tough — and when to bend
Knowing whom you’re up against at the negotiating table is only half the battle. Pelosi, say those who have closely watched her, is just as good as the next politician at playing hardball and not giving an inch.
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“She never really agrees to anything until she knows the other side has no more to give,” said one person who worked with Pelosi and spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss her leadership. “I have seen that before, where she is like, ‘Oh, and one more thing’ to [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell or [former GOP House speaker John] Boehner.”
But she is also willing to give when she thinks it will help her ultimate goal of passing legislation.
In 2010, Democrats had power in Washington and were trying to pass President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul. In the House, several antiabortion Democrats threatened to withhold their votes because they were concerned the bill could lead to the government paying for abortions. Rather than threaten this group or try to beat them into submission, Pelosi let them propose and vote on an amendment to prevent such abortion funding.
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To the rest of her caucus, that felt like a betrayal. But Pelosi was able to keep them in line by focusing on the bigger picture of passing health-care reform.
“Pelosi went back to her liberal allies, and they were furious; how can you do that?” Green said. “She said, ‘I’m as pro-choice as anybody, but we gotta get this bill passed. I had to compromise.’ ”
She’s patient — to a point
None of this happens without significant legwork on Pelosi’s part. Those who have worked for her say that when she’s in a bind, one of her first steps is to call lawmakers to hear their concerns, to get them on the same page, to cut deals. It’s a slow, careful type of leadership that takes time, even though Congress is always running up on deadlines.
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“I don’t know if there are any more leaders like that,” a former Pelosi aide said. “It’s methodical. It’s about taking the time to listen; it’s having that conversation away [from the cameras] that no one knows is happening.”
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One recent example Green points to is “the Squad,” a loosely formed group of new liberal lawmakers who came to power promising to take on the Democratic establishment. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) got elected in 2018 and started pretty publicly going after Pelosi for not being progressive enough. Before she took office, she protested with environmental activists outside Pelosi’s office. Pelosi, in turn, had shade for Ocasio-Cortez in interviews. “This glass of water would win with a ‘D’ next to its name in those districts,” she said of Ocasio-Cortez.
One day, the two met behind closed doors. They talked. We don’t know what was said. But after that, Ocasio-Cortez became much less combative toward the speaker, Green said.
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It’s an example of Pelosi’s soft power weighing heavily.
She deals with defectors swiftly
Boehner, the former Republican House speaker, was known among his caucus as a nice guy, Green has written. If someone didn’t fall in line, he had a reputation for giving them a slap on the wrist and moving on. (Ultimately, he was driven out of his job by the hard-line Freedom Caucus.)
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By contrast, Pelosi expresses her displeasure clearly. She has donated to primary opponents of lawmakers she’s upset with. She will refuse lawmakers a seat on their desired committee. She’ll tell people to their face that she’s disappointed in them. Green said some lawmakers, particularly men, have come away from Pelosi saying they felt as if they had been scolded by their mother.
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With all these tools, she’s cultivated a reputation as an all-knowing, all-seeing leader — which is exactly how you’d want to be seen in this job. Pelosi’s sources are everywhere, and little catches her by surprise.
“She always knows a lot more than she lets on,” said the former aide. “You think you come in with a big piece of information and she’s like ‘Uh-huh.’ She knew that a couple days ago. That’s what makes her an effective leader.”