Brooklyn Rep. Hakeem Jeffries Set to Lead House as Democrats Win Midterms

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York is positioned to become the first Black speaker of the House following a decisive midterm victory for House Democrats. The Brooklyn representative served as House minority leader in 2022, making him the first Black politician to lead either party in the House or Senate. If elected to the speakership, Jeffries will move to the second position in the presidential line of succession, directly behind the vice president.

Jeffries has served in the House since 2013, representing parts of Brooklyn. His tenure spans nearly 14 years, during which he rose from a rank-and-file member focused on criminal justice policy to a top party lieutenant. He previously worked under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then led the minority party. His path to the top has required securing support from a diverse and often fractious House Democratic caucus. This challenge is expected to grow as the party looks to fulfill its promises to voters in the new term.

The new Congress will convene on Jan. 3, when the House will hold a floor vote for speaker. Jeffries has framed the election results as a mandate for transformation. Speaking on Tuesday night, he stated, “This is a change election, and we understand as House Democrats that we need to deliver dramatic change. Things are broken. We need a Congress that puts the American people first.”

Before entering politics, Jeffries worked as a lawyer in private practice. He credits his time helping community members through a law school legal clinic with sparking his interest in criminal justice reform. In a 2023 interview with NY1, he said, “I think over time it did inform that if I had the opportunity to go into the practice of law, or eventually public service, that I wanted to do something about the broken criminal justice system.”

Jeffries served six years in the New York State Assembly, where he worked to regulate warrantless stop-and-frisk searches by the New York City Police Department. As a member of Congress during the first Trump administration, he led the effort to pass the bipartisan First Step Act. That legislation reduced sentences for some drug crimes. The bill required close collaboration with President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Jeffries described the working relationship as productive. He told Time, “to get things done in this town you need a coalition of unusual suspects.” He later added, “There was a real partnership [with Kushner] that produced real results.” This year, Jeffries faced criticism from some Democrats for meeting privately with Kushner. The New York Times first reported the meeting, which Jeffries later confirmed. He said he took the meeting at Kushner’s request to discuss affordability and noted that Democrats intend to hold the administration accountable.

Jeffries was once a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and sponsored Medicare for All proposals. He has faced skepticism from outside activists on the party’s left wing. As speaker, he will manage a growing group of members aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America. He has clarified his political stance, telling The Atlantic in 2021, “There will never be a moment where I bend the knee to hard-left democratic socialism. Black progressives do tend to tackle issues first and foremost with an understanding that systemic racism has been in the soil of America for over 400 years.”

He distinguishes his view from that of other progressives, stating, “Hard-left progressives tend to view the defining problem in America as one that is anchored in class. That is not my experience as a Black man in this country.” Jeffries also served as an impeachment manager during the Senate trial concerning Trump’s pressure campaign on Ukraine. He has not committed to pursuing impeachment in Trump’s second term, telling Fox News in April that it was not a top priority. In September, he told ABC that Democrats have not ruled anything in or out.

Jeffries has maintained that the primary focus for the new Congress is lowering costs for Americans. He will work with a caucus that includes a wide range of political viewpoints as it begins its new term.