Pelosi, Schumer Fall Out of Favor with Democrats

Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer (Flickr)
Democrat congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) seem to be losing popularity within their own party. (Flickr)

The top congressional Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, appear to be losing ground within the Democrat Party.

A poll among Democrat aides on Capitol Hill shows that very few of the staffers want them to keep their leadership jobs past the 2022 midterm elections.

In contrast to a seemingly deteriorating internal situation in the Democrat Party, the congressional Republican leaders, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, enjoy substantially higher intra-party trust.

79% of Democrat Hill Staffers in Favor of Replacing Pelosi, Schumer

At the same time, a total of 62% of the Democrat Capitol staffers stated both the 81-year-old House Speaker and 71-year-old Senate Majority Leader should go after the 2022 vote, regardless of the election results.

Another 17% of the surveyed Democrat aides on Capitol Hill said they think Pelosi and Schumer will have to quit their senior posts only if the party suffers an electoral defeat.

Putting the second and third figures together means a whopping 79% of Democrat staffers think the prospect of change in the congressional leadership is vital for the Democrat Party.

Nancy Pelosi hasn’t made it clear yet whether she will be seeking reelection in 2022. She has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1987, and House Speaker since 2009 (and prior to that in 2007-2011).

Chuck Schumer, on the other hand, who has been a United States senator since 1999, only became Senate Majority Leader this past January, after serving as the Senate Minority Leader since 2016.

72% of GOP Aides on Capitol Hill Back McCarthy, McConnell

Unlike the Democrat Party, which seems to be experiencing a high degree of internal distrust, leadership doubts, and intra-party weariness, the same survey shows confident and comfortable congressional support inside the GOP.

Indeed, the poll discovered that 46% of Republican Capitol aides are in favor of both Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell staying as the top GOP leaders in the House and Senate, regardless of how the party performs in the 2022 midterms.

Another 26% of the GOP aides on the Hill think McCarthy and McConnell need to quit their leadership roles, only if the party scores a loss in 2022, and they should stay on if it ends up being triumphant.

Thus, cumulatively, the support for the incumbent Republican leaders in Congress stands at 72%.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has been the top Republican in the House since 2019. (Flickr)

Only 28% of the Republican staffers surveyed anonymously have said McCarthy and McConnell will have to go after the 2020 midterms, regardless of how the GOP does in the elections.

As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has served in the US Senate since 1985, was reelected in 2020, it could be assumed he isn’t going to retire before the end of his six-year term.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a US Representative since 2007, also hasn’t signaled any plans for stepping down from the leadership job.

McCarthy, who has been the House Minority Leader since 2019, previously served as the House Majority Leader from 2014 until 2019.