Editing Nancy Pelosi (section)

===Blocking of impeachment proceedings against President Bush===

In the wake of Bush's 2004 reelection, several leading House Democrats believed they should pursue [[Movement to impeach George W. Bush|impeachment proceedings against him]], asserting that he had misled Congress about [[weapon of mass destruction|weapons of mass destruction]] in [[Iraq and weapons of mass destruction|Iraq]] and violated Americans' civil liberties by [[NSA warrantless surveillance controversy|authorizing warrantless wiretaps]].

In May 2006, with an eye on the upcoming midterm elections—which offered the possibility of Democrats taking back control of the House for the first time since 1994—Pelosi told colleagues that, while the Democrats would conduct vigorous oversight of Bush administration policy, an impeachment investigation was "off the table". A week earlier, she had told ''[[The Washington Post]]'' that although Democrats would not set out to impeach Bush, "you never know where" investigations might lead.<ref>{{cite news |last=Babington |first=Charles |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/11/AR2006051101950.html |title=Democrats Won't Try To Impeach President |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=May 12, 2006 |access-date=February 3, 2010 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114194705/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/11/AR2006051101950.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

After becoming speaker in 2007, Pelosi held firm against impeachment, notwithstanding strong support for it among her constituents. In the 2008 election, she withstood a challenge for her seat by antiwar activist [[Cindy Sheehan]], who ran as an independent primarily because of Pelosi's refusal to pursue impeachment.<ref>"Sheehan considers challenge to Pelosi", by Angela K. Brown, [[Associated Press]], July 8, 2007.</ref>