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President Biden has passed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, which belies widespread speculation in Washington that she would accept the post as a step towards retirement.
Instead, Biden chose former Senator Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) As Pope Francis’ emissary.
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill complained on Twitter about the announcement that the 81-year-old speaker would step down for the overseas post.
“It is not a rumor when you have been told several times that it is false” Hammill tweeted in response to reporter Jake Sherman, who wrote that “[t]The rumor that @SpeakerPelosi would be appointed Ambassador to the Vatican can be assuaged.
Pelosi is a Catholic who speaks often about her religious faith, but her position in favor of the right to abortion has sparked controversy among pro-life clerics.
Archbishop of San Francisco Salvatore Cordileone said in May Pelosi was not entitled to Communion because of her support for legal abortion and that “she is respectful enough not to do anything so provocative “.
Last month, Pope Francis crushed conservative religious leaders to deny Democrats the sacrament. “The pastor knows what to do. Every moment he leaves the pastoral path of the church, he immediately becomes a politician, ”he said.
While Pelosi’s possible departure was widely discussed among DC insiders, it was unclear who would have taken his place before the midterms of 2022, during which Democrats face a significant challenge from the share of Republicans as Biden’s popularity crumbles.
Other members of the Democratic House leadership team include House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, 82, and House Majority Whip, Jim Clyburn, 81. A figure on the rise, the chairman of the Democratic House caucus, Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), 51, would have been a contender.
Democrats have in other instances struggled to persuade longtime Liberals to make room for younger replacements.
In one famous example, allies of then-President Barack Obama tried unsuccessfully to persuade left-wing Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer to resign to allow for a younger replacement – as an incentive to an ambassadorial post in France.
Walter Dellinger, a former solicitor general, said that “my suggestion was that the president invite Breyer to lunch and tell him, ‘I believe historians will one day say that the three greatest American ambassadors to France were Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Stephen G. Breyer.
Breyer has pushed back the lobbying effort and remains on the Supreme Court. He is now 83 years old.
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