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The Wall Street Journal. FollowView Profile Nancy Pelosi to Step Down as Democratic Party Leader in House Natalie Andrews - 39m ago WASHINGTON—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said she wouldn’t seek to remain Democratic leader after her party lost control of the House in the midterms but would continue to serve in Congress. Nancy Pelosi to Step Down as Democratic Party Leader in House© denis lovrovic/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images “I will not seek re-election to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” she said on the House floor in a speech that recounted her career. “For me, the hour’s come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect.” The first woman to serve as speaker received a lengthy standing ovation from Democrats and Republicans and was embraced by lawmakers after the speech. On Wednesday evening, Republicans clinched a narrow majority of seats in the House with a victory in California, ending two years of Democratic control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. Democrats will continue to control the Senate. Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries of New York is seen as the front runner to lead the caucus now that Mrs. Pelosi is stepping aside. He had been holding meetings with colleagues and testing their support, according to lawmakers and aides. Another potential candidate, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, has taken himself out of the running. Mrs. Pelosi entered the House chamber wearing a white suit, a color she and other women in Congress have embraced for past major events due to its association with the suffragist movement. The daughter of a Maryland congressman, she recalled riding in the car with her brothers into Washington when she was a young girl. “They were thrilled and jumping up and down and saying to me, ‘Nancy, look, there’s the Capitol.’ And every time I’d say, ‘I don’t see any capital. Is it a capital A? A capital B? Or a capital C?’ And finally, I saw it.” She highlighted work with President Biden and past presidents of both parties on major energy, climate and healthcare legislation. She also reflected on the results of the midterms, the first nationwide election after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. “With these elections the people stood in the breach and repelled the assault on democracy,” she said. Related video: Nancy Pelosi expected to announce 'future plans' after GOP wins House She also cited the growing diversity of Congress in her decades there, citing higher numbers of women and members of minority groups. When she arrived in Congress, there were 23 women in the House. In the most recent Congress, there were 123 women, with 91 Democrats and 32 Republicans. She said she would continue to represent her district. “There is no greater official honor for me than to stand on this floor and to speak for the people of San Francisco,” she said. Her decision had been closely held. Mrs. Pelosi’s spokesman, Drew Hammill, said in a tweet Thursday that Mrs. Pelosi had prepared two versions of a speech Wednesday night. Lawmakers at the Capitol on Thursday morning said they didn’t know what she planned to say. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) is set to take over from Mrs. Pelosi as speaker in the next Congress, if he can keep his caucus mostly united. For years, Mrs. Pelosi was a political target for Republicans, who campaigned in many areas with the slogan “fire Pelosi” and regularly referenced her in attack ads. “It’s official. One-party Democrat rule in Washington is finished. We have fired Nancy Pelosi,” said Mr. McCarthy on Fox News on Wednesday. Headed into the election, Republicans had been heavily favored to win the House, due to voter concerns about the economy and crime, as well as President Biden’s low approval ratings and the historical tendency of the party that controls the White House to lose seats in the midterms. While the GOP did win the majority, their gains were less than expected, which analysts and lawmakers attributed to independent voters’ concerns over abortion access as well as Republicans’ messaging on issues such as election fraud and the influence of former President Donald Trump. The results were seen as potentially changing the calculation for Democratic leaders’ plans, as the minority could potentially have greater power in a narrowly controlled chamber. Mrs. Pelosi, 82 years old, had pledged when Democrats last took the majority, in 2019, to serve just two more terms as speaker, which ends with this Congress. Also in question are the futures of her two top deputies, Reps. Steny Hoyer, 83, of Maryland and Jim Clyburn, 82, of South Carolina. Asked about his plans Thursday as he walked into a Democratic party meeting, Mr. Hoyer said: “I’m going to wait for the speaker to make hers … I’m not going to say anymore. It’s premature.” The California Democrat was the first woman to become speaker of the House and the first speaker to lose and regain the gavel in more than 60 years. Her ability to count votes and twist arms is venerated, even by her opponents who had to at times seek her out to pass legislation. She clashed repeatedly with Mr. Trump, at one point dramatically tearing up the text of his State of the Union speech at the conclusion of his address. Under her leadership, Democrats impeached him twice; he was acquitted in the Senate. She led House Democrats in passing the party’s legislative accomplishments in recent years, such as the Affordable Care Act under former President Barack Obama and sweeping Covid-19 aid, healthcare, climate change and social policy packages under President Biden, as well as a bipartisan infrastructure bill. The announcement came just weeks after her husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked in the couple’s San Francisco home, requiring surgery and time in intensive care. Mrs. Pelosi said earlier that the attack would influence her decision.

I've seen so many posts on insects and such in households but I'm wondering what are the laws and rulings on Muslims for house pests like insects (flies, rats, geckos, moths, spiders, cockroaches etc.)? should one kill them or just take them out of your home without harming them? And what about if they're outside of your home (not necessarily right around your house). This has been a problem for years now but what has been our commends on this matter?

Hello everyone, We recently had a discussion in the mosque where we spoke about different methods that helps to clean the Energetic fields in our house. Ia am aware that most of them may be cultural and not really based on Islamic revelations. I do wonder which ones you use or if you know any reliable traditions on this subject? I do use Espand or Esfand a lot, which is a herb that must be burned kind of like incense but than more natural. I know there is a hadith on Esfand. I also got the recommendation to put Salt in the corners of every room. One good friend recommended to clean the bed with Rosewater as it holds Jinn and negative energies any. ( this may be cultural beliefs, I dont have any proof for this.) Of corse the recitation of the Quran is the most powerful.

HI, Can we build house on the place where some got murdered.And that place is our from long time.Please reply ASAP

Salam everyone , I'm new to this forum and have a question. I'm a shia Muslim residing in the the USA, and I just bought a painting depicting Buddha's face to decorate my living room. According to shia law, is it permissible to hang such a piece of art in the house? It's obviously just for decorative purpose and the picture basically depicts budha's face with a few flowers on the sides. A few of my Sunni friends here pointed out that muslims can't have a picture of Buddha in the house as only Buddhists would have those. Is this true? Please help me solve my dilemma and if possible, please provide reference or a fatwa to help me understand. Thanks, Erum

Salam's brothers and sisters, I own a cat pet which lives indoors and often goes outside, however she does have a litter box and she manages to litter in that when she can. I feed her canned and dry food, now the food i that i give her is the usual canned food you buy from the department stores they are not halal certified. They usually come in beef, chicken or fish. The dry food comes in also different flavors and types that are available to the general public. My question is that if i feed my lunch then say after 5 mins now, as you no the nature of the cat is to usually lick her self or self cleaning as they say many times during the day, she would lick lick lick, so my question is if i touch her hair for example with my wet hands, are my hands now najis and whatever it touches, or if my cat licks her legs and then goes outside after it has rained making her feet also wet would it be in the state of najasat? i would like if someone could answer it.

Salaamun Alaikum, How does one go about buying a house here in the West? Given that most people do not have the full amount of cash to buy a house outright, how can one go about owning a house without getting a mortgage? I have seen the fatwa's that say you can get a mortgage as long as you have the intention of not paying the interest or something along those lines. But i can't see how you can actually get a mortgage and intend on not paying the interest. When you are taking the mortgage, you already know that you will have to pay the interest and you will obviously be intending to pay it - you can't lie to yourself! So, any novel ideas on how to own a home? I think there should be some central shia house buying thing set up, where they lend people money to buy a house and do not charge interest. E.g. They lend 100000, and then the borrower has to pay back 110000, so 10000 is the fee that they charge. I guess this should be ok? If only..............

Salams everyone :) This is my first topic here and I was just wondering if you guys can shed some light on this issue. I am not a very superstitious person but I of course believe that there are some things you cannot answer or know the reasons for, that our religion guides us on. So today I heard from a friend about this hadith their family knew about and 'practiced' in order to keep 'evil' and 'misfortune' away. I would like to know if anyone can clarify where this comes from and whether it is validated within Islam....or whether its just superstition and old world tale. So basically, apparently they say that if you keep pet birds in the house it pushes away any tragedy that may occur in the house. A friend of mine was telling me how she used to own two pet birds who suddenly died one day....no signs or anything...they just died and were lying at the bottom of their cage. She said she was heartbroken about her pets both dying, but then noticed a crazy coincidence. An otherwise deadly accident was prevented in her household on that same day....something prevented that they could not explain how on earth it was prevented. Logic dictated that this tragedy would occur because no one was home to stop it. She claims that from hadiths she knew..... if you have birds in your house it keeps tragedy away and that is the reason nothing happened to her family but the birds died. I did not say anything but felt like this might be just plain superstition...but I would like to have that clarified. Like...it just sounds kind of insane :P Anyone hear about this sort of thing? Can anyone verify whether it is true or not? thanks!