Story highlights A group of Democrats has been organizing behind the scenes to challenge Nancy Pelosi

House leadership elections will happen after Thanksgiving

Closed-door meeting started with watching of clips from "Saturday Night Live" mocking Trump

Washington (CNN) House Democrats decided Tuesday to delay their leadership elections until after Thanksgiving -- a move that will give reeling Democrats time to nurse their wounds and could spell trouble for longtime leader Nancy Pelosi.

After a closed-door meeting, some of Pelosi's supporters said it was time for some serious soul-searching in the Democratic Party.

"We just had a shellacking. We just got a shellacking last Tuesday. We got an unexpected defeat and we've got to recalibrate it and decide how we go forward," said Rep. G.K. Butterfield, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and a Pelosi supporter. "It's just like death. There are difference stages of grief you go through."

The vote is now scheduled for November 30.

As she left the meeting Tuesday, Pelosi downplayed the delay, saying that it doesn't mean "very much because we'll be out for Thanksgiving. But we'll have for the rest of this week to go over some issues."

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