Blue Dogs accept compromise on rules to curb Pelosi power
By Russell Berman - 11/18/10 02:52 PM ET

Blue Dog Democrats pushing to strip Speaker Nancy Pelosi of appointment power within the House caucus reluctantly accepted a compromise offered by Pelosi on Thursday.

The Democratic Caucus approved an amendment to its rules to allow members of the Steering and Policy Committee to elect leaders of the panels, who had previously been appointed by the party leader, Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Led by Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah), Blue Dogs had wanted the chairman and vice chairman of that committee to be elected by the full caucus, but they agreed to the compromise when it became clear their proposal would not win a vote of House Democrats.

Before a caucus meeting on Thursday, Matheson withdrew three other proposals to rein in Pelosi’s internal authority, including a bid to have chairmen of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Rules Committee be fully elected positions within the caucus instead of de facto appointments by the party leader.

A day after 43 Democrats voted against Pelosi for minority leader, the developments marked a clear indication of how much clout she retains in a more divided caucus. The meeting on Thursday was the third consecutive closed-door session for House Democrats grappling with the loss of their majority.

Asked after the meeting if he was satisfied with the compromise, Matheson replied: “No.â€