Hakeem Jeffries is the new House Democratic leader

• New York’s Hakeem Jeffries will lead the House Democrats’ caucus.
• His Wednesday appointment was historic.
• Never before has a Black politician led a congressional party.

New York’s Hakeem Jeffries will lead the House Democrats’ caucus.

His Wednesday appointment was historic. Never before has a Black politician led a congressional party.

Jeffries’ Democratic party will lose its House majority for the first time since 2018 under his leadership. Jeffries said the party would cooperate with Republicans after Wednesday’s vote.

He added that Democrats would “fight radicalism whenever necessary.”

What does Jeffries’ rise signify for the Democratic Party? Let’s look at his predecessors and his role in Congress so far.

Jeffries will replace Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker. She was the first female US president.

Pelosi has led the House Democrats for nearly 20 years. She represents California’s 12th district in San Francisco. During her tenure, she’s become one of the

country’s most prominent political personalities, known as a skillful leader who can hold her caucus together during key votes.

Pelosi and two other top House Democrats, Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn, will step down on November 17. 80-year-olds all.

Jeffries, 52, joins a younger generation of Democratic leaders after their departure. Katherine Clark, 59, and Pete Aguilar, 43, serve as whip and caucus chairman.

Jeffries called Pelosi an “amazing Speaker for the ages” in a speech on Wednesday.

Better caucus. Better. He praised Pelosi’s leadership.

Jeffries is a Democrat. Jeffries emphasized his dedication to racial justice, gun violence, and reproductive rights in a letter to his colleagues.

Andy Eichar, Jeffries’s communications director, said that Jeffries has championed criminal justice reform and healthcare from “right-wing attacks.”

Jeffries has taken a more conservative stance in the Democratic Party’s future discussion and is likely to utilize it to push back progressive left-wing challenges.

Jeffries told The Atlantic he wouldn’t “bow to hard-left democratic socialism.” He backed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries against democratic socialist Bernie Sanders.

Jeffries said Wednesday that party conversations may grow “noisy.”

“On issue after issue, we constantly come together,” he stated.

Jeffries is also expected to bring continuity to the US-Israel relationship.

Jeffries rebutted an Amnesty International report in February that accused Israel of racism towards Palestinians.

The report’s charges were labeled “false, dangerous, and meant to isolate Israel in one of the world’s toughest neighborhoods”

Open Secrets, which analyzes political contributions, said Jeffries’ biggest backers included AIPAC. AIPAC backed scores of Republican candidates that tried to overturn the 2020 election results.

Iman Abid, campaign director for the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, said Jeffries “has consistently proved he supports the Israeli apartheid system” and urged US voters to demand lawmakers like Jeffries to cease assisting the “oppression of the Palestinian people.”

Jeffries must mobilize Democrats to retake the House majority in 2024.

Democrats won the White House and Congress in 2020. Recent midterm elections gave Republicans a majority in the House, and new members will be sworn in on January 3.

Democrats kept their Senate majority. Jeffries called regaining the House majority “our primary non-government priority” in a November letter.

Jeffries will face California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a Trump loyalist. McCarthy will become House Speaker in January when Republicans take control.

Jeffries promised during a press conference on Wednesday to “get something done” while leading a minority party.

Jeffries: “We’ll fight hard.” Every day we serve in Congress and deliver.

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