WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that she opposes any push to expel outgoing Michigan Democratic U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens after she flipped her Senate endorsement from her former primary rival Abdul El-Sayed to Republican Mike Rogers just before last week's midterm elections.

"We have about three more or two more weeks of being in the Congress, so I don’t think we should start making judgments about anybody in the caucus at this point," Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill.

"I was disappointed in that. I conveyed that to her," Pelosi added in reference to Stevens endorsing Rogers two days before Election Day. "I want to be helpful to her in terms of how she deals with this. But I’m not supporting kicking her out."

Pelosi made the remarks Tuesday ahead of a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus, which Stevens did not attend, according to other lawmakers. Pelosi, a California Democrat who is leaving office in January, said she'd spoken to Stevens but encouraged reporters to "focus on the very positive."

Stevens infuriated many Democrats with her late-hour move. Some of her House Democratic colleagues want to see the four-term lawmaker from Birmingham tossed out of their caucus, even as the House is not expected to do much legislating during the lame-duck session. Stevens' term ends in the early days of January.

They include Stevens' one-time mentor, South Carolina U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, who had spent time on the campaign trail last week boosting El-Sayed's candidacy in Detroit.

"If that were to come forward with some kind of a resolution to be voted on, I think I would vote for that,” Clyburn told the POLITICO podcast "The Conversation."

The reaction from top Democrats condemning Stevens last week was fierce and swift, including Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who had initially supported Stevens, called the congresswoman's move a "despicable betrayal." House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said Stevens had isolated herself from the Democratic caucus with her "terrible decision."

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel declared Stevens is "not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future."

Two days before the election, Stevens showed up at a Detroit church with Rogers and publicly endorsed him after the gathering, as Clyburn was waiting on her to appear at another congregation for a unity event with El-Sayed.

El-Sayed, an Ann Arbor Democrat, defeated Rogers on Nov. 3 by 7 percentage points. Stevens and El-Sayed had clashed over U.S. support for Israel during the Democratic primary, but she had endorsed him after she lost. Later, Stevens complained that his team had told her she wasn't welcome on the campaign trail with him after she pressed him to condemn an outside group's ad critical of Israel.

"By the time I got to the place where I was ready to do it, I would have been living a lie to a lot of people and in community. ... There was no way to circle the square. Why? Because he said you aren't welcome," Stevens told The Detroit News on Nov. 2, referring to El-Sayed's message that she wasn't welcome on the campaign trail with him.

"I think that behavior and that level of anger and uncompromising ― it's not acceptable or fitting for a senator. And that's that."

In the 24 hours after her surprise endorsement, Stevens said she'd heard a range of reactions, from "rightful" disappointment and frustration from her Democratic colleagues and supporters to sincere gratitude, sharing a scroll through her smartphone that she said was full of supportive text messages.

Stevens said last week that she understood her decision to side with Rogers hurt her staff, former campaign supporters and her colleagues in the U.S. House. The News previously reported on the mass resignations of at least eight of her official staffers Nov. 1, including her longtime chief of staff, Justin German.

"They're great people, and I love them dearly, and I understand that my action let them down,” Stevens said.

"I will certainly, you know, live with and understand that sentiment. But the most important thing is, trite as it sounds, is I can just live with myself and where my truth is. And I will tell you, like, it was a relief for me personally. Just me. Just me and who I am."

Stevens returned to Washington, D.C., on Monday night for the first votes since the Nov. 3 election, though the Washington Sun reported that she sat in the Republican cloakroom for the vote series.

"I spent my day talking to Democrats and Republicans on behalf of the people of Michigan, just like I’ve always done," Stevens told The Detroit News in a text message when asked about her time in the GOP cloakroom. "I authored 60 bills this term and still hope to see some of this critical legislation passed."

In response to no one answering the door at her office on Capitol Hill on Monday, Stevens indicated that she was working out of a different office, as hers is being prepared for a new member to take over.

Her district office in Farmington Hills remains "fully staffed," according to Stevens' district chief, Colleen Pobur.

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