Former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi injured in Europe, admitted to hospital

Pelosi, 84, is the first woman to serve as speaker of the House and had also been a longtime leader of the House Democratic Caucus.

 U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) walks to a democratic caucus meeting to nominate their own candidate for the next Speaker of the House, after Kevin McCarthy was ousted as Speaker, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., October 10, 2023. (photo credit:  REUTERS/Leah Millis )
U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) walks to a democratic caucus meeting to nominate their own candidate for the next Speaker of the House, after Kevin McCarthy was ousted as Speaker, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., October 10, 2023.
(photo credit: REUTERS/Leah Millis )

Former US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi suffered an injury on a trip to Luxembourg and has been admitted to a hospital for evaluation, her office said in a statement on Friday.

Pelosi, 84, is the first woman to serve as speaker of the House and had also been a longtime leader of the House Democratic Caucus.

"While traveling with a bipartisan Congressional delegation in Luxembourg to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi sustained an injury during an official engagement and was admitted to the hospital for evaluation," Pelosi spokesperson Ian Krager said in a statement. "Speaker Emerita Pelosi is currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals. She continues to work."

Pelosi's position in the US

The San Francisco congresswoman stepped down from her role as speaker -- a powerful position second in line to the presidency after the vice president -- in 2023 but she has continued to serve in the House.

She was reelected in November to another two-year term beginning on Jan. 3.

 U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (second from left) and Nancy Pelosi visit a girls' school in Afghanistan during a congressional trip, March 20, 2011.  (credit: S.K. Vemmer/Department of State)
U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (second from left) and Nancy Pelosi visit a girls' school in Afghanistan during a congressional trip, March 20, 2011. (credit: S.K. Vemmer/Department of State)

Pelosi played a key role in passing Democratic President Joe Biden's sweeping $1 trillion infrastructure bill in 2022 and famously feuded with Republican Donald Trump during his first four years in office, culminating with the moment when she tore up his State of the Union speech on national television in 2020.

Pelosi has been a prominent figure in the US capital over a tenure spanning seven presidential administrations. She first served as House speaker from 2007 to 2011, then regained the job in 2019 after her party took back control of the chamber in the 2018 midterm elections.

Democrats lost their House majority in 2022, and Republicans will again hold a narrow majority next year when President-elect Trump returns to the White House.