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Happy Friday morning.

Thursday’s historic announcements by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer were a watershed moment for House Democrats.

Along with signals that House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn will remain at the leadership table but in a lower-profile role, Democrats avoided a messy public fight over who runs the caucus heading into the 118th Congress. Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn will step aside – although they’re not gone – to be succeeded by Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.).

The Big Three are to be replaced by the New Three — seamlessly, gracefully and, above all, respectfully.

Yet behind the scenes, it didn’t go down quite like that. Up until very shortly before Pelosi declared she was stepping down from the leadership, several of the key players weren’t quite sure how the transition would unfold.

Clark was concerned about a potential challenge from Hoyer, one the Maryland Democrat is convinced he would’ve won. Clyburn and Aguilar had a private conversation about making sure that the 43-year-old California Democrat is No. 3 in the leadership hierarchy, not his more senior colleague. Clyburn still hasn’t officially announced his role yet, a topic that has been under discussion for months.

Yes, this was a transition in leadership, but it’s also a transition in generations. Once rivals, Pelosi and Hoyer took over as the top two House Democrats in 2002. Clyburn joined them in 2006. Jeffries and Clark only started in the House in 2013, while Aguilar entered office in 2015. The experience gap between the two factions is enormous; any one of the three senior Democrats has been in the House for longer than the younger trio combined. Hoyer came to Capitol Hill when Ronald Reagan was a new president, and he first became part of the Democratic leadership in 1987.

The Pelosi-Hoyer-Clyburn trio has won and lost majorities together, and their relationships endured enormous stresses. Pelosi and Hoyer’s leadership battle during 2001 is well known, but people forget that Hoyer and Clyburn briefly ran against each other in 2010 after Democrats lost the House. That dispute was resolved and both remained in place. The triumvirate eventually settled into a pattern that worked for them and the broader caucus.

While Pelosi’s plans in the event of a Democratic defeat this fall were the big headline nationally – and rightly so considering her place in history – the sensitivities surrounding Hoyer and Clyburn were in many ways more intense, especially since it was clear that both were staying in Congress no matter what happened in the midterms. The two are enormously respected by their colleagues, and no one wanted to be seen as trying to force them out of leadership. Attempting to do so may not have been successful anyway.

The 83-year-old Hoyer was quiet about his plans throughout the fall, insisting that the only post he was interested in was House majority leader. Like Pelosi, Hoyer spent a lot of time on the road during the final months of the cycle. Thanks to his moderate image, Hoyer could go to some districts that Pelosi couldn’t, and he helped raise millions of dollars for candidates and incumbents.

Even after Election Day, Hoyer declined to discuss his intentions, hoping for a Democratic comeback. When it was clear that Republicans were going to take the majority, Hoyer still held back his announcement until Pelosi went first.

Earlier this week, Hoyer met with Jeffries and told the New York Democrat that he’d back him for Democratic leader. Here’s Hoyer in a letter to colleagues on Thursday:

Yet some Democrats privately urged Hoyer to stay in leadership, and tension grew between Hoyer and Clark over whether Hoyer would run for minority whip. Because Hoyer wasn’t disclosing his plans, it wasn’t clear to the Clark camp what he’d do until Thursday afternoon when Pelosi went to the floor. After Pelosi’s speech, we scooped that Hoyer wouldn’t run for leadership in the next Congress.

We asked Hoyer about his colleagues asking him to run for leadership. We never mentioned Clark or the minority whip post, but Hoyer’s response is interesting:

Clark praised Hoyer in a statement on Thursday: “There are no better words to describe Leader Hoyer than a true public servant. He has been instrumental to the success of the House Democratic Caucus as a leader, mentor, and master legislator.”

The 82-year-old Clyburn was also active on the campaign trail, with endangered Democrats happy to see him come to their districts. Clyburn’s endorsement is a valuable thing in the right place and at the right time, as President Joe Biden can attest.

Clyburn and Jeffries first discussed a potential “emeritus” position for the South Carolina Democrat earlier in the fall. If Clyburn stepped aside, the Congressional Black Caucus — a roughly 50-member voting bloc — would line up behind Jeffries for whatever leadership position he pursued.

But just what position Clyburn would hold, and more importantly where it would rank within the Democratic leadership structure, was still to be sorted out.

Hoyer and Clyburn meet privately this week as well. The two had talked about their futures during the last several months, and then explored it in more depth during this session. We reported earlier this week about rumblings inside Democratic leadership circles that Clyburn would throw his support to Jeffries if Hoyer ran against the New Yorker for minority leader. Yet Hoyer never had any intentions of doing that, as we noted above.

Clyburn and Aguilar talked about Clyburn’s plans during a huddle on Thursday morning. Clyburn would stay on as assistant Democratic leader but that position would essentially be removed from the top leadership hierarchy, allowing Aguilar — as caucus chair — to serve as the No. 3 Democrat.

Aguilar didn’t want to be seen as trying to step over Clyburn, currently the highest ranking Black lawmaker ever. Like the rest of the caucus, Aguilar is deferential to Clyburn. But it’s also deeper than that. The two have developed a close personal bond, with Aguilar serving as a chief deputy whip, a position that afforded him weekly facetime with Clyburn. Aguilar has been to Charleston to see Clyburn.

On Thursday, Jeffries walked off the House floor a few hours after Pelosi announced her intention to step down from leadership. He wouldn’t say much, instead allowing Pelosi to have her day. But as Jeffries crossed through Statuary Hall with a large group of reporters in tow, he ran into Clyburn.

“It’s on,” Clyburn said.

– John Bresnahan, Heather Caygle and Jake Sherman

NEXT WEEK: Don’t forget to RSVP for our virtual one-on-one conversation with Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) on Monday, Nov. 21 at 12 p.m. ET. It’s the second event in our three-part series, “Building Trust in Technology.” We’ll be talking to DelBene about the importance of privacy and security in new and existing technologies.

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