First woman in history to become Speaker of the House of Representatives/ Nancy Pelosi announces retirement from Congress

2025-11-06 15:49:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

First woman in history to become Speaker of the House of Representatives/ Nancy

Nancy Pelosi, the first and only woman to serve as Speaker of the US House of Representatives and one of the most powerful figures in the Democratic Party in decades, announced that she will not run for re-election in 2027. She announced the news herself through an announcement on social media.

“There has been no greater honor for me than to stand on the floor of the House of Representatives and say, ‘I speak for the people of San Francisco.’ I have truly loved my service in Congress and have always respected the hymn of St. Francis – ‘Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.’ That is why I want you, my fellow citizens of San Francisco, to be the first to know: I will not be running for re-election to Congress ,” Pelosi said.

The announcement ended weeks of intense speculation that she would step down after 38 years in Congress. Pelosi was first elected in 1987 and in 2007 became the first woman in history to become Speaker of the House of Representatives, a position she held again after the 2018 election. She remains the only woman to wield the gavel.

The announcement came two days after one of the Democrats' biggest political successes that her party attributes to her, a landslide victory in a California referendum that reshaped the electoral map in favor of Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. According to her associates, she raised tens of millions of dollars for the campaign in favor of the measure.

In recent years, she has dedicated her work to "resistance" to US President Donald Trump, with whom she has clashed repeatedly. During her term, the House of Representatives twice proceeded with the impeachment process of the president, while she herself became internationally known for the scene where she publicly tore up the text of his State of the Union address in 2020. /CNA