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A number of House Democrats have backed off potential
challenges to incumbent leaders, a sign that Speaker Nancy Pelosi may be
orchestrating a quiet transition into the 111th Congress, aides said. Rep. Chris Van Hollen’s (Md.) decision to remain chairman
of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and not challenge Rep. John
Larson (Conn.) for the Democratic Caucus chairmanship is only one in a number
of instances where House Democrats have resisted party infighting in the week
before the internal reorganization.
At least one other serious contender for a top leadership
post — Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), a deputy whip who had put out feelers for
the job Larson is vacating as caucus vice chairman — has held back entering the contest, her office
has confirmed.
And top sources said that Rep. Joe Crowley (N.Y.), also a
deputy whip, has made the same decision.
Those decisions would leave Crowley and Schakowsky, top
two contenders for the vice chairman slot in 2006 prior to Larson’s successful
run at the job, without a leadership post — even though both members more
than pulled their weight on the campaign trail and behind the scenes during the
110th Congress.
“It sounds like Pelosi is calling the shots and doesn’t
want any big fight for any of these positions,” a top Democratic aide close to
leadership said.
The stepping aside of Schakowsky and Crowley would pave
the way for Rep. Xavier Becerra (Calif.) — currently assistant to the Speaker
and a key Pelosi (Calif.) ally — to waltz into the vice chairmanship largely
unchallenged. Rep. Kendrick Meek (Fla.) remains interested in the job and is
still gauging support, and some other members, including Ohio Rep. Marcy
Kaptur, are rumored to be interested in the race.
Pelosi also appears to have agreed to transfer Becerra’s
assistant-to-the-Speaker portfolio to Van Hollen — who last week said publicly
he was looking for a broader influence over policy. It was unclear what would
happen to the assistant-to-the-Speaker position, which Pelosi personally selected Becerra for two years ago.
The hardening of Democratic leadership races without any
major fights also leaves a number of up-and-coming members without a higher
rung to grab on to, including Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), a deputy
whip who chaired the DCCC’s Frontline and Red to Blue programs. Wasserman
Schultz was a top candidate to run the DCCC for the 2010 election cycle.
A top aide to Wasserman Schultz said Monday he was unsure
of her immediate leadership plans.
At the same time, at least one internal challenge —
Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman’s (Calif.) attempt to
wrest the gavel from Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell (Mich.) —
remains at full bore, with both men already deep in the throes of what is
shaping up to be a nasty fight for the top position on the Energy and Commerce
panel.
Leadership aides on Monday said Pelosi was monitoring the
situation, but was not yet prepared to get involved.
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