House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) are split over whether superdelegates — many of them lawmakers — should pick the Democratic presidential nominee or merely reflect the popular vote.

The divide between the top two Democrats in the House reflects a growing split in their caucus over how party officials should use their special status.

Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) supporters argue that superdelegates should not overturn a candidate’s lead won by popular vote in primaries and caucuses. Obama leads Clinton by about a hundred delegates.

Pelosi supported the Obama argument last month by declaring that superdelegates should not overturn the results of the nation’s primaries and caucuses.

“I don’t think it was ever intended that superdelegates would overturn the verdict, the decision of the American people,” said Pelosi. “What they are there to do is to be in place should there be a need for some change in what happens — but not to change what happened in an election.”

This stance suggests that superdelegates should step in only to break a tie or if the leading candidate becomes damaged irreparably by a late-breaking revelation.

Hoyer took a different position Wednesday, defending the right of superdelegates to vote without feeling bound by popular election results.

“The superdelegates were created, in my view, to bring their judgment, their experience and their commitment to success in the general election and to bring that judgment to bear on how best we can accomplish the most success, and I think that’s what the superdelegates will do,” said Hoyer.

“They didn’t do a bad job with Franklin Roosevelt or Woodrow Wilson or even Harry Truman back in the days when the delegates were largely party leaders or party followers that the leaders liked. They exercised judgment.”

Hoyer reiterated this position when asked about whether it would be proper for them to overturn a candidate’s delegate lead.

He noted that many of the party’s 796 superdelegates, including members of Congress, governors and other party officials, have working relationships with the candidates and know them well.

Clinton supporters side with Hoyer. They know Clinton’s best chance of winning the nomination is to convince the party’s elite to endorse her at the convention. Clinton would have to win the remaining primary contests by overwhelming and improbable margins to surpass Obama’s delegate total.  

Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.), who has endorsed Clinton but whose district went for Obama, defended her independent judgment.