US House speaker Pelosi wants more women in government

"We always want more. There is no question about it," Pelosi, the first woman in history to head the Congress, told CNN when asked if the gender balance in Obama's cabinet picks was to her liking.

"When I went to my first meeting at the White House as a leader and looked around and saw that I was the first woman in history to be seated at that table, my first thought was, 'We want more,'" she said recalling events in 2002 when she was minority Whip, or the second highest-ranking person in the Democratic party.

"But I feel confident (in) the diversity in (Obama's) cabinet and among the advisers to the president, who, as you know, are as important in many ways as members of the Cabinet," Pelosi said of her fellow Democrat's team.

Obama's 18-strong cabinet-in-waiting includes five women.

Pelosi, 68, was elected House speaker on January 4, 2007. Her first White House meeting was with the cabinet of now outgoing President George W. Bush.

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