Gillibrand Knocks Down Rift With Pelosi
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- January
- 6
Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Hudson, is beating back a report in Politico that she has a feud with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that could jeopardize her chances of being picked by Governor Paterson to succeed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Glenn Thrush’s blog post says that there’s “no secret (Pelosi) thinks the 42-year-old up-and-comer has been too aggressive about climbing the House leadership ladder.”
Also, Pelosi was upset that Gillibrand sought to get a position on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, despite her lack of seniority, the blog said. The position went to Buffalo Rep. Brian Higgins.
Gillibrand’s office said in a statement that the claims are not true.
“Congresswoman Gillibrand enjoys a great working relationship with the Speaker and is grateful for the opportunities she has given her, from being involved in major pieces of legislation like the 9/11 bill, to passing along advice and guidance in her first term, the Speaker has been very gracious and generous towards Kirsten. Any allegation to the contrary is uninformed and trying to make waves where none exist.
“Also, as and FYI, Kirsten supported Congressman Higgins in his pursuit of the Ways and Means seat and was pleased to see the seat stay in the NY delegation. In addition, she never met with the Speaker in regards to a Ways and Means position, and officially requested to maintain her current committee assignments.”
The post does point out another issue for Democrats if Gillibrand is tapped for the Senate seat: Her congressional seat, which has a heavy Republican majority, could land back in the GOP hands, some Democrats fear.
Meanwhile, there’s a new push for Gillibrand for Senate on the Web.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 at 1:44 pm by Joseph Spector.
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Ms. Gillibrand sounds a whole lot more accomplished than Ms. Kennedy. Not only has she been a practising lawyer, she’s worked all her adult life and has been elected by voters. Heck, I bet she even has a better voting record too.