On MSNBC yesterday evening, the New York Democrat said that he was against Pelosi’s becoming Speaker again because he wants a more decentralized House. I’m not betting on the success of his effort: The fact that the alternative to Pelosi whom he touted, Representative Karen Bass (D., Calif.), endorsed Pelosi today is not promising. He made a passing remark I found interesting: “I don’t have a strong personal relationship with Leader Pelosi. Those that do say that she’s a good person of integrity. That is indisputable. I have a problem with a management, leadership style that consolidates power under their office and marginalizes members and marginalizes committees. . .”
As you can see, the opening remark about their relationship was in the context of saying his problem with her concerned her management rather than her character or personality. But the relationship surely reflects on the management style. Pelosi has been the leader of House Democrats since 2003. Higgins has been in Congress since 2005. There were only 194 Democrats in the last House, and 188 in the one before that. Either Higgins requires a lot out of a relationship before he’ll vouch personally for someone’s integrity, or he’s telling us something that may explain some of the resistance to her from her fellow Democrats.