For Nancy Pelosi, good-bye Congress. Hello, Pelosi Democracy Institute

Source: USA Today

June 29, 2026, 8:02 a.m. ET


Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is retiring from Congress but not retiring from politics. The Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy is being launched in January at the University of California, Berkeley, the university announced June 29. The institute will sponsor research, support summer internships, host an annual forum "for global thought leaders" and offer undergraduate classes.

Here's one of them: a course on Congress co-taught by political science professor Eric Schickler and Pelosi.

Still 'making the fight'

"I have, shall we say, no power right now," with President Donald Trump in the White House and Republicans in control of the House, Pelosi told USA TODAY in an interview in December. "I'll have less when I'm not in Congress, but that doesn't mean I'm without influence. There are many people outside the Congress, including I .... who can be making the fight."

The first woman (and the first Californian) to serve as speaker of the House, Pelosi played a crucial role in enacting the Affordable Care Act, responding to the financial meltdown of 2008 and opposing the Iraq War. Many historians and politicians view her as the most powerful woman in the history of the United States.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/06/29/nancy-pelosi-democracy-institute-berkeley/90729718007/