Jeffries poised to make history as first Black person to lead US congressional party
WATCH LIVE: House Democrats hold news briefing after Jeffries named first Black leader.
House Democrats are turning to a new generation of leaders to take the helm in the next Congress, and are poised to make history as they elect a new slate on Wednesday.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., 52, is running unopposed to serve as House Minority Leader starting in January. He is 30 years younger than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and will become the first Black person to lead a major political party in Congress. Pelosi announced earlier this month she would remain in Congress, but not run for the leadership post she has held atop the Democratic caucus for nearly two decades after Republicans gained a razor thin majority in the 2022 midterms.
Talking to reporters the night before the caucus vote, Jeffries said he hasn’t had time to reflect on the historical marker. Focusing on « the outside narratives or the magnitude of the moment » would take away from his work planning how to shift the caucus from the majority to its new minority posture in January, he said.
He is expected to be elected as the minority leader along with Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., as his number two, and and Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif as the third ranking leader. The new leadership team taking over should « lean in hard and do the best damn job we can for the people, » he said.
Jeffries added it’s important for Congress to « look like the American people. » He added, « when we get an opportunity as diverse leaders to serve in positions of consequence, the most meaningful thing we can do in the space is do an incredibly good job — that hopefully will encourage others to think about public service and alleviate concerns that folks who are skeptical may have about the ability of every type of American to operate successfully at the highest levels. »
Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who is 82 and the current third ranking Democratic leader said the shift taking place with Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and himself not running for the most senior posts has been in the works for several years.
« I think that it was pretty clear to everybody that Pelosi, Hoyer and myself would be making an exit from the leadership very soon, either under our own, or somebody carried us out, » Clyburn said.
Clyburn called the low drama leadership change that House Democrats are expected to execute relatively quickly after a team that held power for roughly 15 years an « evolution. » Typically, coveted leadership posts rarely open up and contested races can get personal with camps working furiously to secure votes in a race decided via a secret ballot.
« I have studied history long enough to know that evolutions are much better than revolutions, » Clyburn said. « And I think that anybody watching their caucus, our caucus over the years, could see the evolving leadership. »
Jeffries said after Democrats won back the majority in 2018 he, Clark, and Aguilar talked about joining the leadership table then and using the period to demonstrate they were up to the task to eventually move up the leadership ladder.
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