House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reiterated her calls for embattled Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) to step down after President Obama jumped on the resignation bandwagon Monday.
Speaking to reporters outside her office on Capitol Hill, Pelosi said that “none of us, not anybody here has the power to force somebody out of office.” But she said that she thinks Weiner should heed the suggestion from his party’s leaders, including Obama, that it’s time to go.
“I hope that with the President having spoken and some leaders in Congress speaking out, Congressman Weiner will hear this, know this, know that it’s in his best interest for him to leave Congress,” she said.
Pelosi’s Republican counterpart, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), called on Democrats to strip him of his committee assignments. Pelosi would not answer questions about that directly, but suggested Weiner would not have a kind reception if he returned to Capitol Hill. He requested a leave of absence to, as his staff put it, “seek professional treatment to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person.”
On Monday, a two week leave was approved and read into the Congressional record, according to The Hill. Democratic officials have maintained that they have no power to block the move.
Pelosi made it clear that Democrats do not want him back in Congress.
“This is beyond committee assignments. This is asking him to leave,” she said. “If we’re asking him to leave, we’re certainly not going to welcome him here with committee assignments.”
Evan McMorris-Santoro
Evan McMorris-Santoro has covered politics for TPM since 2009. Before that, he was a reporter at National Journal’s Hotline covering election 2008. He started his career covering local politics at newspapers in TN and his native NC.
Facebook Conversations
Questions about commenting with non-Facebook accounts like Yahoo, or other concerns? Click here to read the TPM Commenting FAQ.