Sen. Barbara Boxer’s announcement Thursday that she will not run for re-election in 2016 took fellow California Democrat and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi by surprise.

Upon learning the news at her weekly news conference, Pelosi stood in silence, collected herself and praised Boxer as “one of the most unselfish politicians I have ever known.”

”She called me and said she wanted to talk to me personally,” Pelosi said. “I just thought she wanted to have dinner tonight.”