Pelosi agrees to speaker term limit

WASHINGTON—House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is set to make a comeback as speaker next year after announcing Wednesday she would limit her tenure in the role to four years. Within moments of her saying the magic words “term limits,” seven of Pelosi’s previous critics sent out a statement promising to back her as speaker. Pelosi has to win a majority of votes for speaker when the new House convenes Jan. 3. She can afford to lose no more than 17 votes from her own party if all Republicans oppose her. Pelosi was speaker of the House from 2007 to 2011, when Democrats last had control of the lower chamber of Congress.

Democrats have been involved in leadership squabbles since Election Day, when they gained at least 39 seats and majority control of the House. Pelosi described herself as a transitional leader but initially refused to say how long she would serve as speaker. Instead, she focused on dealmaking with lawmakers for committee assignments and pointed out that her critics could not find anyone to mount a serious challenge against her. Under the deal, House Democrats will vote by mid-February to change party rules to limit their top three leaders to four two-year terms in their roles, including time they’ve already spent in those jobs.

The limits would also apply to the two other top Democratic leaders in the House, Reps. Steny Hoyer of Maryland and James Clyburn of South Carolina. Hoyer has decried the term limits proposal and said that Pelosi was “not negotiating for me.” Pelosi said even if the proposal doesn't pass party muster, she will abide by the four-year agreement.