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The historic selection of Jeffries as the incoming minority leader means he will replace Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) in January as the highest-ranking African American in the House and become the first Black lawmaker to lead either party in the chamber. Elected to Congress in 2006, McCarthy was part of a triumvirate of self-styled Republican “Young Guns” (along with Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan, neither of whom is currently in Congress) who rode the Tea Party wave to power. Republicans’ romping success in the 2010 midterms catapulted McCarthy into one of the top leadership positions, House majority whip. Jeffries said he has an "open mind" in terms of his relationship with the top House Republican, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who was nominated to serve as the speaker. McCarthy is still working to secure the votes he needs to be elected by the full House.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries elected as leader of the House Democrats
Those on the left often wanted bolder policy proposals and more generous federal spending, while centrists argued for positions they maintained were more in step with voters in purple districts they represented and helped the party regain the majority in 2018. But House rules require that the speaker receive a majority of the votes cast, something neither Mr. Jeffries nor Mr. Jordan got in the first round of voting, because 20 Republicans voted for other candidates. The Majority Whip is an elected member of the majority party who assists the Speaker of the House and the majority leader to coordinate ideas on, and garner support for, proposed legislation.
Speaker of the House elections decided by multiple ballots
After this period, the Speaker-designate is also chosen in a closed-door session by the largest caucus although the Speaker is formally elevated to the position by a public vote of the entire House when Congress reconvenes. Now McCarthy is in the fight of his political life as he again seeks the speakership. He won the party’s internal leadership elections, dispatching a challenge from the far right. But the real test will come on the House floor, where he will need the support of nearly every member of his caucus to become speaker.
Elections
With his unanimous election as Democratic leader, Jeffries, 52, becomes the first Black American to helm a major political party in congressional history. He inherits the job from Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats’ long-serving leader. Yet he begins his tenure in the minority, after Democrats lost control of the chamber in the November midterms despite a stronger than expected performance. House minority leaders also hold joint news conferences and consult with their counterparts in the Senate—and with the president if their party controls the White House. The overall objectives are to develop a coordinated communications strategy, to share ideas and information, and to present a united front on issues. Minority leaders also make floor speeches and close debate on major issues before the House; they deliver addresses in diverse forums across the country, and they write books or articles that highlight minority party goals and achievements.
Minority Leaders who have played prominent roles in opposing the incumbent president have included Gerald Ford, Richard Gephardt, Nancy Pelosi, and John Boehner. Passing meaningful legislation from the party’s agenda is unlikely now that Republicans control the House. Democrats will instead have to navigate being on the defense as Republicans plan to launch congressional investigations into the Biden-Harris administration. Biden will need the teamwork of Democratic leaders Jeffries and Schumer to make that happen. Jeffries has emerged as a new and fresh voice of opposition to Republicans after former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who shepherded House Democrats for nearly 30 years, stepped down from party leadership. Democrats tell theGrio that they are ready to resist the Republican agenda and will lay the groundwork for their opportunity to reclaim power in the House.
Trump impeachment
But he’s facing an eleventh-hour challenge for the post of assistant Democratic leader from Rhode Island’s Rep. David Cicilline, who announced a surprise bid Wednesday. WASHINGTON — House Democrats on Wednesday elected a new generation of leaders to take the mantle from the three octogenarians who have led them for two decades, installing a trio of top leaders that, for the first time in congressional history, includes no white men. Pelosi held a very narrow majority during this session of Congress, and the divisions between progressives and centrists often spilled into the open and stalled action on top priorities.
House Minority Leader Jeffries News Conference October 20, 2023 - C-SPAN
House Minority Leader Jeffries News Conference October 20, 2023.
Posted: Fri, 20 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Party whips and assistant party leaders
Democrats have been preparing Mr. Jeffries, the former chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, for several years as a potential leader. But it was only after Ms. Pelosi decided to resign as speaker after last year’s midterm elections that he stepped forward, alongside Mr. Aguilar and Representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, his top deputies. Since 2013, he has represented some of the nation’s most iconic Black neighborhoods in Brooklyn.
Ballotpedia features 486,932 encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers. Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, also from New York, will lead the Democratic Party in their respective chambers over the next two years as Biden continues to mull over whether he will seek reelection in 2024. More details about the Members of the House of Representatives are available from the Clerk of the House.
Jeffries will be joined in the top tier of Democratic leadership by Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts as minority whip and California’s Rep. Pete Aguilar of Redlands as House Democratic Caucus chair. Another Californian, Rep. Ted Lieu of Torrance, won a contested race for caucus vice chair. A special election in 2008 brought Scalise to Washington, where he rose quickly through the Republican ranks. In 2012, he was elected chairman of the influential Republican study group, beating a candidate who had been handpicked by the group’s founders. After that surprise victory, Scalise told reporters on Capitol Hill that his goal was to pull Republican leadership “as far to the right” as possible. He was considered next in line for the speakership in 2015, but his bid imploded.
Gingrich had been a backbench rabble-rouser since coming to the House in 1978 and built up a cadre of supporters until he won the party's No. 2 power position as minority whip in 1989. He soon eclipsed the party's leader, Robert Michel, who was nearing retirement. But this time around several Democrats have indicated they would cross the aisle to support Johnson and frustrate Greene & Co. if it came to a vote. Democratic leaders have indicated they are open to this, and it essentially repeats the strategy that allowed Johnson to pass the Ukraine portion of the aid bill earlier this month. Reps. Tony Cárdenas (D-Pacoima) and Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove) were running for the post, but the caucus supported a rule change Wednesday to make the position appointed rather than elected.
The minority leader is often assisted by whips, who help ensure that minority party members are present for votes during floor sessions and support the party's legislative agenda. The minority leader is often assisted in their role by whips, who work to enforce party discipline on votes deemed to be crucial by the party leadership and to ensure that members do not vote in a way not approved of by the party. House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries is the first Black lawmaker and the youngest member to lead a party in Congress. His political clout rising from Crown Heights to Washington, Jeffries is part of a new generation of leaders in American politics. With a foundation in social justice coupled with experience as a lawyer, the Democrat has served Brooklyn in the New York Assembly and, since 2013, as one of its U.S. congress members.
Currently, 21% approve and 34% disapprove of his performance as Speaker of the House, with 45% registering no opinion. Democrats are nominally more positive about Johnson now (12%) than they were at the end of last year (3%). Republicans, on the other hand, have become more negative – with 19% disapproval now compared with just 5% four months ago – while his approval level has not changed (36% now and 37% in December). Overall, 20% of Americans are in favor of replacing him as Speaker and 25% are opposed. Republican opinion specifically stands at 20% in favor of a leadership change and 32% who are opposed.
As the party’s top vote-counter, her main task for the next two years will probably be to keep Democrats aligned in opposition to Republican-backed legislation, rather than whipping them in favor of bills. His ascent to Democratic leader was long planned and came with the explicit backing of his predecessor. Now, as the new fresh face of House Democrats, Jeffries has vowed to bring his fractious caucus together with the goal of clawing back control of the chamber in two years. In remarks after his election, he said he hoped to work with Republicans, but would not remain silent if they continued to embrace extremism. After a historically weak performance by the minority party in a midterm election, House Republicans have struggled to unite. Uncertainty hangs over the speakership election, as Kevin McCarthy attempts to quell a conservative revolt that could derail his long-held hopes of claiming the speaker’s gavel.
He then attended New York University School of Law, where he served on the Law Review and graduated magna cum laude in 1997. In 1988, Jeffries enrolled at SUNY Binghamton, a bucolic campus only a 4-hour drive from Brooklyn but culturally worlds apart. He joined Kappa Alpha Psi, a historically Black fraternity, and was later elected its president. Jeffries would also meet his future wife, Kennisandra Arciniegas, on campus. Jeffries attended Midwood High School, a New York City public school in an area that was a haven away from his Brooklyn neighborhood, which was riddled with drugs and gangs. At Midland High School, Jeffries excelled in honors courses, was a member of the baseball team, and shared in the school yearbook his aspiration to one day become a lawyer.
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