Democrats pick Hoyer as House majority leader

updated 7:31 p.m. ET Nov. 16, 2006

WASHINGTON - Democrats picked Rep. Steny Hoyer to be House majority leader on Thursday, spurning Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s handpicked choice moments after unanimously backing her election as speaker when Congress convenes in January.

A Marylander and 25-year veteran of Congress, Hoyer defeated Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania in a vote of 149-86.

His election to the No. 2 job came just a short time after the Democratic caucus put Pelosi in line to become the first woman to be speaker, a position which is second in line of succession to the presidency. It marked a personal triumph for Hoyer.

Earlier, an ebullient Pelosi declared: “We made history and now we will make progress for the American people.”

In remarks after being chosen for speaker, the Californian vowed that after 12 years in the minority, “we will not be dazzled by money and special interests.” Pelosi also called for unity in the party, but within moments she put her prestige on the line by nominating Murtha.

Murtha, a Pennsylvanian, is a powerful lawmaker on defense matters, and he gained national prominence last year when he called an end to U.S. military involvement in Iraq.

He and Pelosi have long been close, and when Pelosi issued a statement supporting Murtha on Sunday night, it raised the stakes in a leadership election within a party that is taking control of the House in January for the first time in a dozen years.

“I didn’t have enough votes and so I’ll go back to my small subcommittee I have on Appropriations,” Murtha said after the vote.

Murtha to chair defense subcommittee
Murtha will chair the powerful defense subcommittee with responsibility for the war in Iraq and the Pentagon budget. “Nancy asked me to set a policy for the Democratic Party. Most of the party signed onto it,” he said, referring to pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq.

“I was proud to support (Murtha) for majority leader, because I thought that would be the best way to bring an end to the war in Iraq,” Pelosi said after the vote.

Pelosi and Hoyer, 67, have long had a difficult relationship. The two ran against each other in a leadership race several years ago. Pelosi won, but Hoyer rebounded more than a year later when he was elected the party’s whip.

Hoyer’s margin of victory reflected a pre-election strategy in which he showcased support from moderates, veteran lawmakers in line to become committee chairmen and more than half of the incoming freshman class — the majority-makers whose victories on Election Day gave the party control of the House.

“Steny was more where the mainstream of where the party was,” said Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, who will become chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Of Pelosi’s endorsement of Murtha, Frank said, “She’s a very smart woman who made an error in judgment.”

The intraparty battle had preoccupied Democrats, overshadowing Pelosi’s promotion to speaker — a position that is second in line of succession to the presidency.

Many Democrats were dismayed that the family feud had broken out in the first place and objected to heavy pressure placed on longstanding Hoyer supporters.

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