Pelosi

In an interview on Monday, Mr. Higgins said he, like many lawmakers, recognized that Ms. Pelosi’s predicament gave him a unique opportunity to maximize his influence by making it clear precisely what he would need to throw his support to her. “I think that she’s going to get the votes for this, but understand that for members, it’s all about leverage — it’s all about what you do and when you do it,” Mr. Higgins said. “This is a process whereby you’ve got a vote, which provides you with some leverage, and you have a voice, and the best thing you can do is articulate in a convincing way what it is you want to do and why you want to do it.” And Representative Stephen F. Lynch of Massachusetts told a local TV station on Sunday that if another Democrat did not step forward to challenge Ms. Pelosi, he would grudgingly vote for her over a Republican, even though he believed doing so would endanger his party’s majority in the next election and risk re-electing President Trump. Correction: November 26, 2018 An earlier version of this article misstated when Representative Nancy Pelosi will propose new rules governing how legislation is considered in Congress. She will propose those rules when the new Congress convenes in January, not on Wednesday, when she will unveil rules for t