Foster among 16 Democrats vowing to oppose Pelosi becoming speaker

WASHINGTON - Sixteen Democrats, including Rep. Bill Foster of Naperville, said Monday they will oppose Rep. Nancy Pelosi's bid for House speaker, an act of defiance that puts the dissidents on the cusp of forcing a seismic leadership shake-up as the party prepares to take the majority.

Their pledge to oppose Pelosi, delivered in a letter to Democratic colleagues, comes as the California congresswoman has marshaled a legion of supporters on and off Capitol Hill to make her case. She is courting members in one-on-one conversations while securing the backing of the International Association of Fire Fighters; UnidosUS, a leading Latino civil rights organization; and nine military veterans serving in the House.

The insurrection against Pelosi stands as the only official obstacle to unity in the top leadership ranks, after Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado on Monday withdrew her challenge for the No. 3 job held by Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina and Pelosi endorsed her leadership team. But the renegades' threat is considerable.

"We are thankful to Leader Pelosi for her years of service to our Country and to our Caucus," they wrote. "However, we also recognize that in this recent election, Democrats ran on and won on a message of change."

Foster did not comment Monday on the letter. His spokeswoman, Mary Werden, told the Chicago Sun-Times on Nov. 11 that Foster "is committed to voting for someone else on the floor."

On Nov. 8 he signed a letter asking for rules changes that would make it harder for Pelosi to win election as speaker. Foster "feels like the party needs new leadership … and a new generation," Werden told the Sun-Times.

The three Democratic freshmen Illinois is sending to the House - Lauren Underwood of Naperville, Sean Casten of Downers Grove and Jesus "Chuy" Garcia of Chicago - have not committed themselves to Pelosi.

Pelosi, 78, has expressed complete confidence that she will retake the speaker's gavel in January - eight years after she lost it following massive Republican gains in the 2010 midterms and 16 years after she was first elevated to the top Democratic leadership post in the House.

Pelosi is the only speaker candidate who has declared ahead of a party nominating vote on Nov. 28, with a vote of the full House on Jan. 3. But her opponents believe that an alternative will emerge if it becomes clear Pelosi does not have the 218 votes needed to win in January.

Drew Hammill, a Pelosi spokesman, said Monday she "remains confident in her support among members and members-elect" and noted that more than 90 percent of the incoming Democratic caucus declined to sign the letter.

The signers might not be able to force Pelosi out themselves. The size of the Democratic majority remains in flux, but Democrats have won 232 seats, according to The Associated Press, with four races still undecided. If the current leads hold in the uncalled races, Democrats will hold a 16-seat majority.

That means Pelosi could lose as many as 15 Democratic votes when she stands for election as speaker in January. One of the 16 signers, Ben McAdams of Utah, is now trailing GOP Rep. Mia Love and might never cast a speaker vote.

Also signing the letter were Reps. Jim Cooper of Tennessee, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Brian Higgins of New York, Stephen F. Lynch of Massachusetts, Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, Kathleen Rice of New York, Tim Ryan of Ohio, Linda T. Sánchez of California, Kurt Schrader of Oregon and Filemon Vela of Texas, as well as newly elected members Joe Cunningham of South Carolina, Max Rose of New York and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey. Anthony Brindisi, who leads in an unresolved race in New York, also signed the letter.

Not signing the letter was Rep. Marcia Fudge, an Ohio Democrat who has publicly opposed Pelosi and is mulling a run against her. A spokesman for Fudge said Monday that she was unavailable for an interview and that her final decision on the speaker race is not expected until after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Five other Democrats - Rep. Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania and Reps.-elect Jason Crow of Colorado, Jared Golden of Maine, Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia - have made firm statements saying they would not vote for Pelosi but did not sign the letter.

Representatives for Crow, Lamb and Spanberger each said Monday their positions on Pelosi had not changed and they intend to vote against her in the January floor vote. Golden said the same in an interview.

In her conversations with individual members, Pelosi has started inquiring about their policy priorities and committee assignment preferences. The Democratic Caucus gives its top leader wide leeway to make those decisions, crucial to a lawmaker's legislative career.

She has also met with key subgroups within the caucus, including hearing out the left-leaning Congressional Progressive Caucus and the more centrist New Democrat Coalition. Both groups expect to have scores of Democrats in their ranks next year.

The Progressive Caucus issued a statement last week supportive of Pelosi, citing her pledge to help appoint caucus members to coveted committees such as Appropriations, Financial Services, and Ways and Means.

The New Democrats are pressing Pelosi for rules changes to ensure lawmakers have time to read bills and that operations in the House are more transparent, and Pelosi attended a meeting of the group Friday during which she was pressed on the need to shield centrist members from politically perilous votes.

Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the chairman of the coalition, cited the cap-and-trade climate bill that House Democrats passed in 2009, only to see it languish in the Senate. Many Republican challengers used the bill in their campaign to oust Democratic incumbents the next year.

"The culture of our caucus is very progressive, as it should be. But we need to make sure that we don't do things which damage the electoral prospects of the people who gave us the majority," he said. "I think she heard us loud and clear."

With DeGette's challenge dropped, any major shake-up in the Democratic leadership now depends on whether the dissidents can muster the votes to keep Pelosi from seizing the House speaker's gavel in January. If that bid is successful, it could kick off a wholesale scramble that could also threaten Clyburn, the current assistant Democratic leader and highest-ranking black lawmaker in House leadership, and Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who is seeking to move from whip to majority leader.

DeGette, 61, who has long served as chief deputy whip, launched her campaign after the Nov. 6 election by touting her experience in rounding up support for difficult pieces of legislation - implicitly making the case that Clyburn, 78, was not up to or interested in the task.

But the challenge upset backers of Clyburn, a former Congressional Black Caucus chairman and a revered figure among the caucus's roughly 50 members - who bristled at the notion that the Democratic leadership could be all-white.

"Out of the three of the leadership positions, he is the only one with announced opposition," Rep. Cedric Richmond, the current Congressional Black Caucus chair, said last week. "I just think it is offensive and insulting."