Pelosi’s new chief of staff no longer on purse duty

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) needed something in her purse during a Friday press conference on the sequester.

The House minority leader wanted to let the Fourth Estate know what things are exempt from the sequester, but the list was out of reach.

She said, “I made sure that there were certain things that were exempted from sequester ... it’s in my — it’s in my purse, actually, because I brought it to the White House.”

Pelosi aides mobilized, but the California Democrat told her chief of staff, Nadeam Elshami, that he could relax.

“Nadeam, you don’t have to do that anymore,” Pelosi said, triggering laughter. “Someone else can get my purse.”

Elshami was recently promoted from communications director to replace John Lawrence as Pelosi’s top aide.

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