Nancy Pelosi beat a challenge from Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan for minority leader on Wednesday by a 134-63 vote. | Getty Pelosi agrees to changes demanded by rank-and-file

A day after fending off the first real challenge to her control in years, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi threw her support behind changes to the leadership that will loosen — if only slightly — her grip on the Democratic hierarchy.

Democrats adopted several Pelosi-approved changes during a caucus meeting Thursday, most notably allowing members — not the minority leader — to pick the next chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.


"This is exactly the kind of change that we’ve been pushing from the very beginning," said Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, who helped lead a drive to delay leadership elections two weeks ago.

No one has stepped forward to challenge current DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, but Moulton said he "wouldn't be surprised" if that happened.

Luján initially declined Thursday to say whether he would seek the DCCC post again, now that it’s open to caucus election, but a DCCC spokesperson later confirmed he would. Last week, Pelosi had renominated him for the job, essentially guaranteeing his victory until this change.

Luján gave an impassioned speech inside the caucus that could be heard outside the meeting room about working to take back the majority.

“It’s a good decision to empower the caucus to have them elect their leaders; I think that’s a very positive thing,” Luján said afterward. Democrats picked up only six House seats after boasting for months about the likelihood of double-digit wins.

Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur railed against the DCCC in the meeting, saying the problem goes far beyond whoever is chairman.

"I have the highest respect for Mr. Luján, but I don’t think he controls the strings," Kaptur told reporters afterward. DCCC staff "summarily dismiss us. You feel like you’re at the Vatican."

She added, "They’re happy for you to help raise money for the organization, but then when you ask for help for your region, the door is slammed repeatedly."

The caucus also backed a plan to add two new leadership posts for junior members, including one reserved specifically for freshmen, but postponed a decision on creating "vice ranking members" for committees. Some Congressional Black Caucus members are concerned the change would undermine support for seniority for committee ranking members.

Rep. Colleen Hanabusa will represent the freshman class in leadership despite a prior stint in the House. Hanabusa served from 2011 through 2014 before losing to Sen. Brian Schatz in a Democratic primary challenge for the Hawaii Senate seat that year.

Lawmakers also backed a proposal expanding the Democratic Policy and Communications chair to three spots and having those elected by the caucus. But they delayed discussions about a plan to add five regional vice chairs to the campaign committee.

Pelosi has previously said it will be up to members to decide the regions for the vice chair spots.

Pelosi beat a challenge from Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan for minority leader on Wednesday by a 134-63 vote. The opposition to Pelosi was greater than many expected, although the California Democrat had predicted she'd get "two-thirds" of the caucus.

While she remains atop the Democratic Caucus, Pelosi is aware there remains serious dissension within her ranks, much of it based on the fact that the caucus is top-heavy with veteran lawmakers. That shuts out more junior members from having a role in policy and messaging.

Pelosi also knew that if these proposals came up for a vote in Thursday's planned caucus meeting — and there were amendments on several of them — she might end up on the wrong side of the issue. So, she moved to head off the fight before it ever got that far, releasing a letter announcing her support Wednesday night.

Pelosi, though, opposed a proposal to open up the Steering and Policy Committee — two leadership spots — to election. Reps. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Eric Swalwell of California currently hold those spots, and both are close Pelosi allies.

Members pushing for the steering change withdrew their amendment during the caucus meeting.

"We did want to keep it, but I think it’s important also that when you have the opportunity to have change, we did," said Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona.

New York Rep. Kathleen Rice added: "Whenever you try to get change, there are obstacles thrown in your way. And what we tried to do … is get rid of as many obstacles as possible so that we could at least take some steps forward."