Nancy Pelosi is attempting to frame her decades-long career around Obamacare even as stock trading questions follow her into her final year in Congress.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat who has served in Congress since 1987, said she hopes history remembers her most for the Affordable Care Act, legislation she helped shepherd through Congress during the Obama administration.
“How do you want to be remembered?” ABC News’s Jonathan Karl asked Pelosi during an interview that aired Tuesday.
“Not so fast, I’m still here,” Pelosi replied with a laugh. “Well, I’m very proud of the Affordable Care Act. I think that it was — just made a big change in terms of what working families need for their health and their financial health.”
Pelosi framed the law as a defining achievement while signaling continued partisan conflict around health policy.
“We’ll continue to have that fight. It’s not a value that is shared with the Republicans,” she said. “So, if I were [to be] remembered for one thing, it would be the Affordable Care Act.”
Her comments come as enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies expired at the end of 2025, triggering looming premium increases for millions of Americans who relied on the federal credits to offset insurance costs.
Roughly 20 million people are expected to feel the impact, with out-of-pocket expenses projected to rise sharply depending on income, age, and plan selection. In many cases, premiums are expected to roughly double following the lapse.
The expiration has reignited a bitter debate on Capitol Hill. Senate Democrats previously forced the federal government into the longest shutdown in U.S. history as part of a strategy to refocus attention on healthcare, pressing Republicans to negotiate publicly. Both parties ultimately advanced competing proposals, and both efforts collapsed.
As lawmakers prepare to return to Washington in the first week of January, healthcare is expected to remain a high-profile issue in the Senate.
However, any attempt to revive or permanently replace the expired subsidies could be delayed as Congress braces for another government funding fight ahead of the Jan. 30 deadline.
Despite recent failures, lawmakers from both parties are quietly searching for a compromise. Two proposals currently have traction in the House.
A Republican-backed plan cleared the chamber earlier this month but does not address the expiring tax credits.
A separate bipartisan proposal would extend the subsidies for three years, mirroring a previous Democratic push in the Senate, and is expected to receive a floor vote.
The bipartisan effort has sparked cautious optimism among some Democrats that a temporary extension could survive in the upper chamber, even as broader healthcare reform remains stalled.
Pelosi’s legacy discussion also arrives as she prepares to step away from electoral politics. Early last month, she announced she would not seek another term.
“I will not be seeking reelection to Congress. With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative,” Pelosi said in a video message posted to social media.
Thank you, San Francisco. pic.twitter.com/OP8ubeFzR6
— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) November 6, 2025
She addressed her San Francisco constituents directly, saying, “As we go forward, my message to the city I love is this: San Francisco, know your power. We have made history, we have made progress, we have always led the way.”
Yet Pelosi’s record is increasingly being weighed against controversies that have followed her for years, including criticism over congressional stock trading.
In mid-December, The New York Times argued Pelosi’s career may end with what it called an “asterisk” tied to her handling of the stock trading debate.
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The paper wrote that “the widespread perception that she was on the wrong side of the debate over congressional stock trading, and personally benefited from the practice, has put an asterisk on that legacy.”
Pelosi does not personally trade stocks, but her husband, venture capitalist Paul Pelosi, actively does.
The couple’s wealth has grown dramatically during her time in office, fueling claims from critics that political access and market insight played a role.
Those concerns have drawn bipartisan frustration as momentum has built to prohibit lawmakers and their families from trading individual stocks.
According to the report, Pelosi resisted those efforts as pressure mounted, declining to support restrictions even as public sentiment shifted.
“She failed to appreciate the groundswell of support for banning the practice, refusing to give an inch amid GOP accusations that she was corrupt,” the Times reported.
Sources close to Pelosi told the outlet that the issue had become a blemish on her otherwise historic career.
They suggested her resistance stemmed from a refusal to yield ground to Republican attacks that portrayed her as unethical.
“Her main reason for resisting the idea,” the Times wrote, “was that Republicans targeted Ms. Pelosi personally in their efforts to address the matter, and she did not want to cede any ground to attacks that implied she was corrupt.”
The report also noted that Pelosi became “exponentially” wealthier during her tenure, inspiring investors attempting to mirror her husband’s trades, including the creation of a so-called Pelosi Tracker app.
“You can’t argue with the return on Nancy Pelosi’s time in Congress,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said. “She outperformed the S&P 500 by more than double in 2024.”
Data from Capitol Trades show Pelosi reported a trade volume of $56.9 million over the past three years.
Around the same time the stock trading scrutiny resurfaced, Pelosi pivoted back to attacking President Trump during an interview with USA Today’s Susan Page.
“The person most responsible for impeaching President Trump when I was speaker was President Trump,” Pelosi said. “He gave us no choice.”
She referenced Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, claiming it crossed constitutional lines, before turning to Jan. 6.
“And then, of course, January 6th,” she continued. “He can try to change the narrative all he wants, but we will be there to make sure the public knows the truth about January 6th. It was an insurrection incited by the President of the United States.”
When asked whether impeachment should remain on the table, Pelosi suggested it would depend on future actions.
“If he crosses the border again,” she said. “But that’s not an incidental thing. You say, ‘We’re going to do that.’ No, there has to be cause.”
She argued impeachment was designed for extreme circumstances, adding, “Our founders knew that there could be a rogue president, and that’s why they put impeachment in the Constitution.”
During a separate appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Pelosi said Trump would ultimately “pay a price in history” for what happened on Jan. 6.
“It was clear that the president of the United States had incited an insurrection,” she said, recounting calls to deploy the National Guard. “Typical of him, he never represents the truth.”
She accused Trump of attempting to rewrite the events of that day, calling the attack on the Capitol “horrible” and an assault on Congress and the Constitution.
When Karl noted Trump’s current position, Pelosi responded bluntly, “No, he’s president of the United States now. But history will, he’ll pay a price in history.”
Pelosi will also pay a price in the history books as one of the most corrupt Democratic Politicians to hold office.
CYA since dead due to stock scandal wont work Pelosi
Pelosi will be remembered for the bill that we had to pass to see how toxic it was. That was probably the dumbest and most incompetent thing I ever heard come out of a politician’s mouth.