Fresh off re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, Peter Welch refrained from endorsing Nancy Pelosi for House speaker, saying House Democrats must “decentralize” the power of the speaker’s office.
“The question for me on this whole leadership issue is not who leads us, it’s more a question of how we’re led,” the six-term Democratic congressman said in an interview Wednesday.
Welch, who has long had what he calls a “very good” relationship with Pelosi, D-Calif., said the power and influence concentrated in the speaker’s office is one of the major reasons for the disfunction in Congress.
Welch’s comments come fresh off Tuesday’s election and the Democratic Party claiming a majority in the lower chamber for the first time in eight years.
Democratic candidates gained more than the 23 seats they needed to take control of the House. Current results have Democrats controlling 222 seats to the Republicans’ 196, with 17 contests still undeclared, according to the Associated Press.
With the seat majority, Democrats now hold subpoena power to investigate President Donald Trump’s administration, including his business affairs, from tax returns to possible conflicts of interest in foreign countries.
But the first order of business for the House Democratic Caucus is to nominate a speaker.
Pelosi, who held the position from 2007-2011, is widely considered to be the front-runner to retake the speaker’s office, but a handful of House Democrats called for new leadership prior to the election. That could lead to a complicated nomination process.
Welch said the power imbalance between House committees and the speaker’s office reached new heights during Republican Rep. Paul Ryan’s leadership and House Democrats will have to debate the issue moving forward.
“We’ve been having the discussion within the caucus,” Welch said. “What rule changes do we need to assure that there’s more responsibility in the committee itself not just in the speaker’s office? So that’ll be a big discussion that we will begin to have immediately upon our return.”
House Democrats will formally nominate their candidate for speaker after Thanksgiving.
With majority subpoena power, it’s expected that Democrats are prepared to launch investigations into Trump, his policies and his Cabinet members.
But Welch, a 12-year member of the committee on oversight and government reform, said there is a debate within the caucus about whether to focus on legislation or to put members’ energy into investigating the Trump administration.
Welch said the House has responsibility to do both in the next two years, but he would like to see the emphasis on passing legislation with bipartisan support to build up the public’s trust in Congress.
“Our agenda is about making life better for working Americans. If all we’re doing is investigations, blame and vengeance, then we will never have a chance to really get that legislative credibility that’s essential,” Welch said.
Hear an extended interview with Welch in this week’s Deeper Dig podcast:
