U.S. House leadership elections, 2021

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U.S. House leadership elections

U.S. House leadership elections, 2023 U.S. House leadership elections, 2021 U.S. House leadership elections, 2019

See also

United States House of Representatives elections, 2020 117th United States Congress United States Senate elections, 2020

This page covers U.S. House leadership elections for the 117th Congress. Each party elects leadership responsible for leading the party's conference, setting legislative agendas, marshaling support for bills, and directing committee assignments, among other duties.

The speaker of the House, who presides over sessions of the chamber and is second in the line of presidential succession, is elected on the first day the new Congress convenes. Other leadership positions are elected in meetings of the conference prior to the start of a new Congress.

The 117th Congress convened on January 3, 2021.

Speaker of the House

Nancy Pelosi (D)

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was elected speaker of the House on January 3, 2021, with 216 votes. Five Democratic representatives did not vote for her: Jared Golden (D-Maine), Conor Lamb (D-Pa.), Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), and Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.). Golden voted for Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Lamb voted for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). Sherrill, Slotkin, and Spanberger voted "present." All 209 participating Republican representatives cast their votes for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

The speaker of the House is elected on the first day the new Congress convenes. According to the Congressional Research Service, "The long-standing practice of the House is that electing a Speaker requires a numerical majority of the votes cast by Members 'for a person by name.' This does not mean that an individual must necessarily receive a majority (currently 218) of the full membership of the House, because some Members may not be present to vote (or may instead answer 'present')." Because 427 representatives voted for someone by name, 214 votes were required for the speaker to be elected.

Pelosi was selected as the Democratic nominee for speaker of the House by a voice vote on November 18, 2020. She was unopposed.

In 2019, Pelosi was elected speaker of the House with 220 votes. That year, 15 Democrats did not vote for her, including the five who did not vote for her in 2021. Five of the fifteen voted for her in 2021, three lost re-election in November 2020, Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) switched parties in December 2019, and the outcome of Anthony Brindisi's race in New York's 22nd Congressional District was unclear as of January 3.

Pelosi previously served as House speaker from 2007 to 2010 and became House minority leader after Democrats lost control of the House in the 2010 elections. Support for or opposition to Pelosi returning to the speakership was a major issue for Democratic candidates in the 2018 U.S. House elections.

Democratic leadership

Steny Hoyer (D)

House Democrats held their leadership elections remotely on November 18, 2020. The following representatives were elected to leadership positions in the 117th Congress:

• Steny Hoyer, majority leader: Hoyer was re-elected without opposition.

• Jim Clyburn, majority whip: Clyburn was re-elected without opposition.

• Katherine Clark, assistant speaker: Clark defeated David Cicilline 135-92. Click here to read more about this election.

• Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Caucus chairman: Jeffries was re-elected without opposition.

On December 3, 2020, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) was elected chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). Maloney defeated Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) 119-107. Click here to read more about this election.

Assistant speaker election

Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) defeated Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) 135-92 in the election for assistant speaker, the fourth-ranking position in the House.

Cicilline, vice chair of the Progressive Caucus, announced that he was running for the position in September 2020. He said, "I think I've proved to the caucus that I know how to build consensus, I know how to listen, how to work together, and I was willing to put in the time to serve the caucus." He was supported by Reps. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), and Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), as well as the Equality Caucus and the Human Rights Campaign. Takano said of Cicilline, "He's shown himself to have depth on political messaging and very strong policy chops. ... That combination is what you want to see in leadership."

Clark, vice chair of the Democratic Caucus, also announced her candidacy for the position in September. According to Roll Call, Clark campaigned "on a unifying message as well, touting her recruitment and mentorship of members in swing districts and her efforts as vice chairwoman to connect different sections of the caucus." She was endorsed by Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), who said, "Congress serves the people and Katherine has exemplified that service in her over seven years championing populist people-first legislation in the House. ... We need someone with her vision and commitment to bold solutions sitting at the leadership table." Clark was also endorsed by Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), Ann Kuster (D-N.H.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.).

Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) also ran for the position but switched to the race for DCCC chair before the election. The position was held in the 116th Congress by Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), who was elected to the U.S. Senate.

DCCC chair election

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) defeated Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) 119-107 in the election for DCCC chair on December 3, 2020.

Cárdenas and Maloney both announced on November 9 that they would run for the position after Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) said she would not run for re-election as chair.

According to Politico, both representatives "[offered] competing pitches about what went wrong at the polls and how to solve it": Cárdenas "[touted] his robust fundraising and ability to connect with Latino voters" and Maloney "[touted] his experience running as a gay man with a biracial family in a Trump-won district in the Lower Hudson Valley."

According to The Hill, Cárdenas was "seen as someone who could help Democrats address lost ground with Hispanic voters. ... Cárdenas said that during his six years leading BOLD PAC, the super PAC helped boost the number of Hispanic members of Congress from 25 to 40 and raise more than $30 million."

Cárdenas said, "I would like to see the DCCC change overnight, literally, to make sure that we have culturally competent, diverse staff, diverse vendors, diverse campaign consultants, diverse candidates all across the board."

Cárdenas received the endorsement of the Hispanic Caucus and the support of representatives including Reps. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), Susan Wild (D-Pa.), Filemon Vela (D-Texas), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), and Steven Horsford (D-Nev.).

According to Politico, Maloney "pitched himself as a swing-district Democrat who [could] protect the caucus’ most vulnerable members — and its fragile majority — going into the 2022 midterms." He said, “I won my first election by beating a Republican incumbent and have won reelection five times, outperforming the top of the ticket each time. ... I did all this as a married gay man with an interracial family."

Maloney "[vowed] to listen to younger progressives when it comes to social media and digital outreach; to shift away from ‘stuffy old traditional crappy polling’ and adopt community-based focus groups; and to reject the idea that big fundraising hauls are synonymous with election success," according to The Hill.

Maloney's endorsements included the Equality Caucus and Reps. Linda T. Sánchez (D-Calif.), Marc Veasey (D-Texas), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Ami Bera (D-Calif.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), and Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.).

Republican leadership

Kevin McCarthy (R)

House Republicans held leadership elections on November 17, 2020. The following representatives were elected to leadership positions in the 117th Congress:

• Kevin McCarthy, minority leader: McCarthy was re-elected without opposition.

• Steve Scalise, minority whip: Scalise was re-elected without opposition.

• Liz Cheney, Republican Conference chairman: Cheney was re-elected without opposition.

• Gary Palmer, Republican Policy Committee chairman: Palmer was re-elected without opposition.

Tom Emmer was re-elected as National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chair.

Aftermath of Republican leadership elections

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the third highest-ranking Republican in the House, was one of 10 House Republicans to support the second impeachment of President Donald Trump (R) following the January 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

House Republicans held a vote by secret ballot on February 3, 2021, regarding whether Cheney should be removed from leadership because of her vote to impeach Trump. Cheney retained her position with 145 votes to keep her in place, 61 to remove her, and one present vote.

Beginning in late April 2021, several Republicans began to publicly criticize Cheney again for her comments against Trump and his allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he had lost confidence in Cheney.

On May 5, 2021, a spokesperson for second-ranking House Republican Steve Scalise (La.) said that he supported removing Cheney. "House Republicans need to be solely focused on taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker Pelosi and President Biden’s radical socialist agenda, and Elise Stefanik is strongly committed to doing that, which is why Whip Scalise has pledged to support her for conference chair," the aide said. Trump also issued a statement endorsing Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) for conference chair.

Cheney wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post on May 5, 2021, calling on Republicans to support criminal investigations into the January 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol, along with a bipartisan commission inquiry. She wrote, "History is watching. Our children are watching. We must be brave enough to defend the basic principles that underpin and protect our freedom and our democratic process. I am committed to doing that, no matter what the short-term political consequences might be."

On May 12, 2021, Cheney was voted out of leadership by a voice vote in a private meeting.

On May 14, 2021, Stefanik was elected the new conference chair by a vote of 134-46. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, launched a last-minute challenge to Stefanik on May 13, but he lost his bid.

Leadership of the 116th Congress

Heading into the 2020 leadership elections, the following U.S. representatives held leadership positions:

• Nancy Pelosi (D), speaker of the House
• Steny Hoyer (D), majority leader
• James Clyburn (D), majority whip
• Ben Ray Luján (D), assistant speaker
• Hakeem Jeffries (D), Democratic Caucus chairman
• Kevin McCarthy (R), minority leader
• Steve Scalise (R), minority whip
• Liz Cheney (R), Republican Conference chairman
• Gary Palmer (R), Republican Policy Committee chairman

Duties of U.S. House leadership

The following brief descriptions of the duties of U.S. House leadership in the 116th Congress come directly from the official website of the U.S. House of Representatives:

• Speaker of the House: Elected by the whole of the House of Representatives, the Speaker acts as leader of the House and combines several roles: the institutional role of presiding officer and administrative head of the House, the role of leader of the majority party in the House, and the representative role of an elected member of the House. The Speaker of the House is second in line to succeed the President, after the Vice President.

• Majority leader: Represents Democrats on the House floor.

• Majority whip: Assists leadership in managing party's legislative program.

• Assistant speaker: Assists the Majority Leader.

• Democratic Caucus chairman: Heads organization of all Democratic Party members in the House.

• Republican leader: Represents Republicans on the House floor.

• Republican whip: Assists leadership in managing party's legislative program.

• Republican Conference chairman: Heads organization of all Republican Party members in the House.

• Republican Policy Committee chairman: Heads Conference forum for policy development.

See also

• United States Congress elections, 2020
• United States Senate elections, 2020
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2020
• 117th United States Congress
• United States Congress
• United States Senate
• United States House of Representatives

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