Author of California Net Neutrality Law Could Be Pelosi's Successor
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., confirmed Thursday that she won't seek reelection to the San Francisco-based seat she has held for 20 terms, potentially paving the way for California state Sen. Scott Wiener (D), who has focused on tech and telecom policy issues, to succeed her. Pelosi led the House for four terms, from 2007-11 and 2019-23, most recently when Democrats had a majority in the chamber. She relinquished her leadership role at the beginning of the last Congress to now-Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
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Wiener, a former member of the California Senate's Communications Committee, is one of six Democratic candidates who filed to run for Pelosi's seat as of Thursday morning, before she announced her retirement plans. His main Democratic rival is former tech entrepreneur Saikat Chakrabarti. Wiener wrote California's 2018 net neutrality law (see 1809210059) after the FCC rescinded its own rules during the first Trump administration. That law has since survived telecom industry groups’ legal challenge (see 2205050041) and went into effect in 2021. Following the 2024 election, Wiener also sparred with Brendan Carr when now-President Donald Trump selected the Republican FCC commissioner to lead the agency (see 2411200033).
In a statement Thursday, Wiener called Pelosi “an icon of American politics,” praising her for her policy accomplishments and for "fighting for the marginalized,” including the LGBTQ community. Wiener in recent years has focused much more on privacy and AI issues. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a Wiener-led AI law in September that requires transparency about safety and security protocols and provides whistleblower protection to employees at AI developers (see 2509290064).