Something exceedingly bizarre is going on in Congress right now. Kevin McCarthy, second in command among House Republicans, watched his party get trounced in the midterms, and was rewarded with a promotion to Republican leader. Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer were quickly confirmed by their respective caucuses to stay in charge in the Senate. Yet Nancy Pelosi, who just engineered the biggest Democratic win in the House since the post-Watergate election of 1974, is the one facing a challenge to her leadership. As Erica Werner, Mike DeBonis and Elise Viebeck reported in The Washington Post:
"House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday faced solid opposition from at least 17 Democrats and encountered a significant bloc of undecided women in her bid for speaker, setting the stage for an intense battle over who will ascend to one of the most powerful positions in Washington.