House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, at age 78, might not have any real worries with a term-limit requirements of 10 to 12 years, (five or six terms), which is under discussion. Congress Pelosi, rebels discuss limiting her time as speaker to 4 years

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and a group of House Democratic rebels are discussing a proposal to cap her time as speaker to four years, a move that could clear the way for the California Democrat to clinch the gavel in the coming days.

The idea is part of a broader deal being floated that would limit the time all House Democratic leaders can serve, including Pelosi's two longtime lieutenants, Reps. Steny Hoyer of Maryland and James Clyburn of South Carolina.


The plan would be a dramatic shift for Pelosi, who has refused to put an end date on her tenure as she works to reclaim the speakership.

Under the terms of the deal, Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn would be able to serve three terms with an option for a fourth term if they can win the support of two-thirds of the caucus, according to multiple Democratic sources. The effect would be retroactive, meaning the two terms the trio ruled in the majority from 2007 to 2011 would count against their tenure.

The potential deal comes after days of private talks between Pelosi and a group of more than a dozen rank-and-file House Democrats who have publicly opposed her bid to be speaker.

Pelosi overwhelmingly won the Democratic nomination for speaker during caucus leadership elections a few weeks ago. But she still remains short of the 218 votes she needs to win the gavel during a House floor vote on Jan. 3.

Pelosi can lose 17 Democratic votes and still become speaker. Currently, around 20 Democrats are on record vowing to vote against her on the floor. The California Democrat is looking to peel off a handful of those rebels, and allowing a term-limits proposal to move forward could be the price she pays for any such deal.

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Hoyer and Clyburn, Pelosi's fellow septuagenarians, would almost certainly oppose such an effort. Hoyer told reporters he‘s “not for term limits“ while walking into the House chamber on Monday night.

Pelosi and her detractors are also considering a plan to impose term limits on committee chairs, but that part of the deal is still fluid, according to Democratic sources with knowledge of the talks. A deal on term limits for committee chairs could be agreed to separately and at a later date, they said.

Pelosi has not agreed to any of the proposed changes and the parameters of the deal could still change, the sources cautioned.

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), one of ringleaders of the rebel group, declined to comment on the proposal Monday night, citing “ongoing negotiations.“ A spokesman for Pelosi’s office also declined to comment.

The deal, if accepted, would be a compromise between rebel demands that Pelosi produce a firm end date for her leadership and the California Democrat’s insistence that she won’t make herself a lame duck speaker.

Even if Pelosi and her critics agree to something, it‘s unclear when the broader caucus would meet to consider such sweeping changes to its leadership and committee structures.

House Democrats will huddle on Tuesday morning for their regular weekly meeting. But Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the incoming caucus chairman, said no changes would be finalized then because the inbound Democratic freshmen are not in town to vote on any proposals.

“It‘s possible that there will be some discussion about a broader rules package at some point this week, which could occur as early as tomorrow,“ Jeffries told reporters on Monday evening. But “there‘s no opportunity to vote up or down on any of these issues at this moment in time because the freshman members are not here,” he said.

Still, there are indications that Pelosi and her critics are working swiftly to reach an agreement. Several members of the anti-Pelosi group discussed the potential deal on a conference call Monday morning, and multiple sources close to the group said a final deal could come together in the coming days.

While Pelosi can’t bind Hoyer, the minority whip, Clyburn, the assistant Democratic leader, or other senior Democrats to such a measure, her support — or even benign neutrality — could be a major plus for term-limits backers inside the Democratic Caucus.

The reality is that Pelosi, at age 78, might not have any real worries with the term limits under discussion. The same goes for Hoyer and Clyburn, who are also in their late seventies.

Pelosi has previously said she'd planned to retire if Hillary Clinton won the 2016 election but stayed because she wanted to ensure that a woman was at the negotiating table with President Donald Trump. In recent months, Pelosi has talked broadly about being a "transitional" speaker, although she has rebuffed attempts to put an exact timeline on her exit.

However, younger committee chair hopefuls and powerful factions within the caucus — such as the Congressional Black Caucus or Hispanic Caucus — might object to the proposal, no matter the length of the term limits. Yet the majority of rank-and-file House Democrats may support such a plan, since it would give them a chance to move up committee ranks or even into the leadership.

Jeffries, one of the up-and-comers who could be inhibited by the potential change, declined to weigh in on Monday night, citing his position as caucus chairman.

“I‘m unable to draw any conclusions one way or the other about it because I‘ll be the individual that will preside over the debate and the discussion,“ he said.

Even in the absence of a deal between Pelosi and the rebels, House Democrats will need to deal with term limits soon as part of the rules package for the 116th Congress being assembled. Republicans have a three-term limit in place for their committee chairs as part of House rules, and Democrats will either have to keep that limit, revise it somehow, or drop it entirely when they take over the House on Jan. 3.

