Nancy Pelosi has announced she is stepping down as the leader of the Democrats in the US House of Representatives.
Prior to her announcement, 82-year-old Pelosi had held the position for almost two decades and also holds the record as the first woman to serve as speaker of the House.
She will, however, continue to represent her California district in the lower chamber of Congress, according to the BBC.
“I never would have thought that someday I would go from homemaker to House speaker,” Mrs Pelosi said in a statement in the chamber on Thursday.
“I will not seek re-election to Democratic leadership in the next Congress. The hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus,” she said.
Pelosi will serve as speaker until January when a new Congress takes over, and will remain in the seat she first took up in 1987 until January 2025.
New York congressman Hakeem Jeffries is widely expected to take up the top Democratic leadership post in the House, which would make him the first black congressional leader in US history.
