Pelosi advises against kicking Stevens out of House Democratic caucus

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday advised her colleagues against booting Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) out of the House Democratic caucus before the 120th Congress starts, ushering in a new year of Democratic control in the legislative branch.

“Well, we have about three more weeks or two more weeks of being in the Congress, so I don’t think we should start making judgments about anybody in the caucus at this point,” Pelosi told reporters.

She added that she “conveyed” her disappointment to Stevens over the Michigan Democrat’s last-minute endorsement for former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) in his Senate race against Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.). Pelosi expressed that she wanted to be “helpful” to Stevens in the days that followed.

Reporters speaking with Pelosi asked if there was concern about Stevens returning to the Democratic caucus amid reporting that the junior lawmaker intends to caucus with Republicans.

“You’ll just have to ask her that, about what her plans are. But nonetheless, let’s focus on the very positive. This is a great day for our country,” Pelosi said before praising the new class of Democrats that will be joining both chambers of Congress.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is facing several high-profile topics on the docket that are likely to divide Democrats and pose challenges for him before the transition into the majority. This includes how to approach Stevens after her endorsement infuriated Democrats, with some calling for disciplinary action.

Jeffries said Stevens made a “terrible decision” in endorsing Rogers, and said before the sweeping midterm victories won by Democrats that lawmakers would consider “next steps” as Congress reconvened this week.

Democrats fumed over Stevens’s late endorsement of Rogers, having already endorsed El-Sayed after he narrowly defeated her in a bitter primary earlier this year.

Stevens has cited her differences with El-Sayed over U.S. support for Israel as a major issue in her decision to back Rogers later on.

Michigan and national Democrats exploded over her endorsement , with some accusing her of betraying the party. Curtis Hertel, who chairs the Michigan Democratic Party, said Stevens was no longer a “current member of the Michigan Democratic Party,” and that she will not be “in the future.”

Stevens tripled down on her endorsement last Wednesday, saying that she did not regret it, but apologized “that it upset some of my colleagues and people I care about personally.”

She added that she was devoted to re-establishing talks on “how we build tolerance from viewpoints and embrace one another, especially when we disagree,” referring to accusations of antisemitism coming from the Democratic Party.