Will Nancy Pelosi lead a Crusade Against the US Senate?

US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) could take on an interesting new role: leader of a crusade against the United States Senate.

Pelosi is relinquishing her role as House Democratic leader, but will remain a US Representative. Hence, Pelosi will stay on Capitol Hill and in the spotlight. Yet, she no longer has the obligations of a party leader.

Thus, Pelosi could be in a perfect position to lead a movement to reform, or abolish, the US Senate. I think Pelosi is uniquely qualified to lead such a movement because she has seen the Senate’s power to thwart progress and the popular will firsthand many times.

Pelosi and the US Senate

In October 2009, Speaker Pelosi came close to achieving one of the great Democratic dreams: single-payer health insurance, or Medicare for All.

To explain, Pelosi shepherded (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) through the House. The original House version of Obamacare contained a public option (federal health insurance available to all Americans). However, one US Senator, Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut), removed the public option from Obamacare.