You walked into the basement, don't complain that they locked the door behind you
What exactly do you think she can do? An individual representative has very little power, and the small progressive caucus in the House has only a tiny bit more.
Democrats only have a majority of 4. "The Squad" could completely block Pelosi from becoming Speaker.
If Pelosi is reelected Speaker it will be because AOC let it happen.
This.
Also worth mentioning how much Pelosi and the party leaders loathe "the squad". They will be blamed for their losses in Georgia next month. Despite that party hating her so much, AOC falls in line at the end of the day. She'll complain but she isn't going to do jack shit. No different than the empty platitudes we get from the Democratic party in general.
Again, what is she supposed to do here? A representative =/= a queen.
The turtle man's owners get rich when the government does nothing. Strategies that work to protect capital don't necessarily work to challenge it.
Senate Majority Leader is also a much more powerful position than a young representative who doesn't even chair a committee.
The choice isn't between Pelosi and someone else who's kinda-sorta OK; it's between Pelosi and whoever the Republicans in the House nominated for Speaker. So at absolute best that would gain absolutely nothing and launch a thousand "the Squad voted with Republicans" ads straight at a voter base fresh off four years of demonizing everyone in the Republican Party.
This is why I ask the question -- when you play it out, there's really nothing to be gained here, because a handful of representatives don't have much power.
That's not how the Speaker vote works. It's not First Past the Post. They keep voting until someone gets a majority. Republicans don't have a majority.
It's exactly how the Speaker vote works:
The Speaker is elected at the beginning of a new Congress by a majority of the Representatives-elect from candidates separately chosen by the majority- and minority-party caucuses. These candidates are elected by their party members at the organizing caucuses held soon after the new Congress is elected.
If you don't know how this stuff works, that's fine, but don't lash out at the few decent people in politics due to ignorance. Know what they can and can't do for starters.
The Speaker is elected at the beginning of a new Congress by a majority of the Representatives-elect
Majority. Republicans have no way to get a majority. "Most votes" doesn't equal majority if they don't have >50%.
If no candidate obtains the requisite majority, the roll call is repeated. On these subsequent ballots, Members may still vote for any individual; no restrictions have ever been imposed, such as that the lowest candidate on each ballot must drop out, or that no new candidate may enter.
Also:
In 1923 (68th Congress), in a closely divided House, both major party nominees initially failed to gain a majority because of votes cast for other candidates by Members from the Progressive Party or from the “progressive” wing of the Republican Party. Many of these Members agreed to vote for the Republican candidate only on the ninth ballot, after the Republican leadership had agreed to accept a number of procedural reforms these Members favored.
Sounds familiar...
Republicans would have a majority if the progressive caucus voted against Pelosi, as you're suggesting.
But say they abstain or vote for someone else, sure. How is this supposed to wind up with someone who's not Pelosi, and not a Republican, as Speaker? Right-wing Democrats are happy to let AOC and co. sweat it out, and the gridlock has to end at some point (or if it doesn't, how is that good?).
And if a 45-year-old version of Pelosi is elected in her place, how is that not a net loss?
Many of these Members agreed to vote for the Republican candidate only on the ninth ballot, after the Republican leadership had agreed to accept a number of procedural reforms these Members favored.
Even in that example this gambit didn't work.
Maybe this and things more like this will actually start pushing her left. That'd be an overall good thing