“I saw the threat to it, I said: I’ve got to stay, to take care of the Affordable Care Act, and that’s my fight, that’s my mission,” Pelosi said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Pelosi, 77, has been the Democratic leader for almost 15 years, four as House speaker and the rest as minority leader, with Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, 78, as the No. 2 Democratic leader for that entire span. Rep. James E. Clyburn, 77, has been in the No. 3 leadership post for Democrats since 2006.

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Pelosi’s standing came into question after the 2016 elections left Democrats deeper in the minority than she had been publicly predicting, prompting a leadership challenge that she beat back with a two-thirds majority in the secret ballot. But a junior member of Pelosi’s leadership team suggested earlier this month that the trio of 70-somethings atop the caucus needs to move on, sooner rather than later.

“I do think it’s time to pass a torch to a new generation of leaders, and I want to be a part of that transition,” Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (D-Calif.) said on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” in an interview conducted by reporters with The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. “I want to see that happen.”

Responding to Sánchez’s comments Sunday, Pelosi made clear that defending the Obama-era health-care law — which many Democrats give her the most credit in getting passed — was her primary goal. This could suggest that once she feels the law’s future is intact, Pelosi would step aside.

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After Republican failures to repeal the law over the summer, GOP leaders are divided over their next steps. Trump has issued an order to stop making payments to shore up the private insurance markets under the ACA. Meanwhile, in the Senate, bipartisan negotiations continue on how make modest changes to the law and ensure those payments continue to the insurance providers.

Pelosi said the other main reason for not retiring was “to have women at the leadership table.”