(FiveNation.com)- With rumors of Nancy Pelosi hanging up her witch’s hat and flying away from DC on her broomstick, staffers in the Speaker’s office are bailing out on her like rats from a sinking ship.
According to Punchbowl News, the latest staffer to head for the exits is Pelosi’s campaign Executive Director Jorge Aguilar who announced he was leaving to join “theGroup,” a DC government relations firm.
As the speculation of an impending Pelosi retirement intensified last year, the Speaker’s office experienced a spike in its turnover rate in 2021, with almost twice the average turnover for congressional offices.
The average turnover rate of congressional staff in 2021 was 0.38. But turnover in the Speaker’s office was 0.69.
Rumors that Pelosi was on her way out began over the summer. They reached a fever pitch after the disastrous off-year elections in November which saw Democrat Terry McAuliffe soundly defeated in blue Virginia by Republican Glenn Youngkin. Insiders claimed at the time that Pelosi was telling people she wouldn’t run for reelection in 2022.
Some insiders suggested that Pelosi would run for reelection, but would not seek to remain in her leadership position. Others theorized that she would run for reelection, but retire her seat shortly afterward.
And in December, CNN reported that Pelosi fully planned to run in the midterms. But the rumors remained, with many suggesting that Pelosi had no choice but to run to prevent a mass exodus among her fragile caucus. As it is, over twenty Democrat members have already announced they will not seek reelection in November.
If Pelosi announced now that she wasn’t going to run again next year, it would set off a death spiral for House Democrats at a time when they are already facing serious headwinds heading into the Midterm elections.
What’s more, retiring now would make Pelosi a lame-duck Speaker, making it easier for Moderate Democrats to reject her efforts to strongarm them into voting the way she wants. The only chance Pelosi has to keep her caucus in line through the Midterms is to run for reelection.
The fact that so many of her staff are heading for the exits only lends credence to the theory that Nancy Pelosi has no plans to stick around after the Midterms are over.
