Pelosi leaves Congress, but her former staffers still run the House Democratic machine

Nancy Pelosi may be retiring after 39 years in Congress, but roughly 50 of her former aides now hold senior positions across House Democratic leadership, ensuring her political playbook outlasts her tenure.

The 86-year-old former Speaker's departure from Capitol Hill does not mean her influence is walking out the door with her. Former Pelosi chiefs of staff, deputy chiefs, speechwriters, press secretaries, and political operatives have embedded themselves in the offices of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, key committee staffs, and individual members' offices, Politico reported. The network is large enough, and positioned high enough, that the woman who ran the House Democratic conference for two decades has effectively left behind a permanent governing class trained in her image.

That should trouble anyone who thought the generational shift Democrats keep promising was actually going to change how they operate.

Fifty aides, and they're not going anywhere

The numbers tell the story plainly. About 50 former Pelosi staffers remain in top House jobs. Two former deputy chiefs of staff, Emily Berret and George Kundanis, now serve as senior advisers to Jeffries. Wyndee Parker, Pelosi's former national security adviser, is now a policy adviser in the same office. Jamie Fleet, a former Pelosi senior adviser, holds a dual role as senior adviser to Jeffries and staff director for Democrats on the House Administration Committee.

Clark's office tells the same story. John Weber, Pelosi's former deputy speechwriting director, writes Clark's speeches. Joy Lee, Pelosi's former national press secretary, runs Clark's communications shop.

On the committee side, Robert Edmondson, Pelosi's former chief of staff in her personal office, now directs the Democratic staff on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee under Rep. Robert Garcia of California. If Democrats win back the majority this November, Garcia is expected to chair that committee. Edmondson would run its day-to-day operations.

Former Pelosi aides also serve as chiefs of staff for individual members. Amy Soenksen, who handled intergovernmental affairs and member services for Pelosi, is now chief of staff to Rep. Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky. Yuri Beckelman, a former Pelosi staff assistant, holds the same title for Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida. First-term Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona is herself a former Pelosi intern.

And the reach extends beyond Congress. Mike Smith, Pelosi's former political director, now runs House Majority PAC, the Jeffries-aligned super PAC that will funnel millions into Democratic House campaigns this fall. Even Pelosi's current communications director, Ian Krager, is on leave, working as a campaign spokesperson for San Francisco supervisor Connie Chan, described as Pelosi's preferred successor for her congressional seat.

Pelosi's retirement didn't come easily

Pelosi announced she would not seek reelection after nearly four decades representing San Francisco. AP News reported that the decision came as she faced potential primary challenges from Saikat Chakrabarti, the former chief of staff to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and California state Sen. Scott Wiener. At 85 at the time of her announcement, she chose to finish out her final year rather than fight a contested primary from the left.

The timing was notable. Breitbart noted that Pelosi had played a quiet but central role in orchestrating Joe Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race before she decided to step aside herself. She served as Speaker from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023, and led the House Democratic conference for 20 years, a grip on power few figures in either party have matched.

Her retirement video address to San Francisco voters offered the kind of sweeping language she has always favored: "San Francisco, know your power. We have made history. We have made progress. We have always led the way."

But the real legacy question isn't what Pelosi said on her way out. It's what she left behind, and who she left in charge.

A "PhD in leadership", from the woman who never let go

The former staffers themselves describe their time under Pelosi in terms that sound less like a job and more like an apprenticeship. Terri McCullough, Pelosi's former chief of staff who remains an adviser, put it this way in an interview with Politico:

"So many of us got from her a PhD in leadership and efficacy and public service."

McCullough also described what she called "a particular ethos of a Pelosi staffer." Drew Hammill, Pelosi's former deputy chief of staff and now a consultant, framed it in operational terms:

"What a Pelosi staffer could do better than anything is process. In terms of running an office, we have been trained on how to move the ball forward. Deadlines are deadlines."

Edmondson recalled the office culture more personally, describing "long days and difficult challenges" softened by mentorship and mutual support. He told Politico:

"We all learned so much from her about the skills that are needed to be successful on the Hill."

The loyalty is real. So is the uniformity. These aides don't just carry Pelosi's operational habits, they carry her political instincts, her fundraising reflexes, and her approach to party discipline. That's the point. Pelosi didn't build a staff. She built a machine. And the machine keeps running whether she's in the building or not.

Democrats have spent years hearing calls for generational change within their own ranks. Sen. Cory Booker publicly said his party "desperately need new leadership." But the staffing map tells a different story. The faces at the top may be younger, Jeffries, Clark, Garcia, Frost, but the people writing their speeches, directing their committees, and advising their strategy all learned the trade in the same office, under the same boss.

Smith runs the money. Krager runs the succession.

Mike Smith's role deserves particular attention. As president of House Majority PAC, he controls one of the most powerful fundraising vehicles in Democratic politics. He learned the craft as Pelosi's political director, and he still talks about her methods with something close to reverence. Smith recalled that Pelosi asked every congressional candidate the same question:

"What is your why? Like, why are you doing this? What motivates you to get out of bed and fight every day?"

Smith said the answer to that question became a reliable predictor of a candidate's viability. "It got to the point where, the second she asked it, depending on the answer, you knew whether someone was going to be successful or not," he told Politico.

Soenksen, now chief of staff to McGarvey, described applying the same framework in her current role. "When you know your why, you can be focused and you can help motivate your team," she said.

Meanwhile, Krager's leave from Pelosi's congressional office to work on Connie Chan's campaign signals that the succession plan extends beyond staffing. Pelosi isn't just leaving behind aides, she's actively shaping who fills her seat. The New York Post reported that Pelosi had faced a potential primary challenge from Chakrabarti, the former AOC aide, had she chosen to run again. She chose not to, but she also chose who would carry the flag in her district.

The Pelosi alumni network extends further still. Former staffers stay connected through happy hours, text chains, and shared professional bonds forged over years of what multiple aides described as grueling work schedules. One former aide, Joy Lee, recalled Pelosi stopping for chocolate ice cream during marathon phone-call sessions, a small detail that captures the culture of an office where 18-hour days were routine and loyalty was currency.

Ben Burnett still runs a vacant office

One of the more unusual details in the staffing picture involves Ben Burnett, a former Pelosi intern who went on to serve as chief of staff to former Rep. Eric Swalwell. Swalwell's California seat remains vacant, awaiting a special election. Burnett continues to run the office.

The broader internal Democratic power struggles playing out across the party make the Pelosi staffing network all the more significant. If Democrats retake the House this November, Jeffries is expected to become Speaker. The people advising him, writing his speeches, directing his committee work, and running his aligned super PAC were all trained by the woman he replaced. The transition at the top happened. The transition underneath did not.

Pelosi herself seemed to acknowledge the arrangement with satisfaction. In a statement, she said:

"As Speaker, I was proud to assemble a team of some of the finest public servants the House has ever known, brilliant, dedicated, collaborative, and patriotic. I take great comfort in knowing that many of them now serve in leadership positions, bringing that experience and commitment to the benefit of the Congress, the American people, and our nation's future."

She was criticized years ago, including in a 2017 Politico report, for failing to develop a deeper bench of Democratic leaders. But the bench she did develop was a staff bench, not an elected one. And that staff bench now runs the House Democratic operation from top to bottom.

The Pelosi name has never been far from the news, for one reason or another. But the real staying power isn't the name. It's the network, 50 operatives deep, embedded in every office that matters, trained to run the Democratic House the way one 86-year-old woman taught them to run it.

Democrats promised new leadership. They got new nameplates on the same old desks.