Pelosi's New Position For Clyburn: 'Assistant Leader'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) asked her colleagues Saturday to support Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) for "Assistant Leader," a newly created third-ranking position at the leadership table.

In a letter to her fellow Democrats, Pelosi wrote "should I receive the privilege of serving as House Democratic Leader, I will be very honored to nominate our outstanding colleague, Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, to serve in the number three House Democratic position. I will also ask the Caucus to designate that position as Assistant Leader."

House Democrats averted a nasty fight when Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced the creation of the new No. 3 ranking spot for Clyburn.

The late Friday night news ended an internecine battle between current Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Clyburn, both vying to be the No. 2 ranked House Dem in the 112th Congress.

According to a source close to Clyburn, the “solution” is to create a third-ranking Democratic leadership position that “would maintain the diversity of the Caucus as well as the wishes of a majority of the Caucus, that (Clyburn) remain in the number three leadership post.”      

Sources in the caucus were convinced that Hoyer had the needed votes to win in a head-to-head with Clyburn -- a battle that pitted a Blue Dog moderate against the highest-ranking African-American lawmaker in the House.

The Congressional Black Caucus has intensified its lobbying for Clyburn, who has thus far rejected the idea of accepting a lower position or another offer such as a ranking membership on the Appropriations Committee or one of its subcommittees.

Earlier in the week Rep. Charles Rangel (N.Y.) told the New York Observer: “If I had my druthers, I'd just put another chair up there. What the hell?"
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