ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — As Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sees it, Democrats in the House of Representatives have not held the majority this Congress – but they have governed as if they did.
From avoiding government shutdowns to raising the nation’s debt limit to passing an annual defense authorization bill, “we had to consistently rise to the occasion,” Jeffries, DY, told NBC News in an interview during a recent campaign stop . here “Democrats have provided the necessary support, almost overwhelming in most cases, to get things done.”
Now he wants the gavel to remain with the government.
Jeffries hopes to regain the majority in the House of Representatives with the dual message of ‘people over politics’ and a promise to curb the chaos of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives. If he succeeds, Nancy Pelosi’s historic speakership (she was the first woman elected to the top position) would mark another milestone for his party: the election of the first black speaker of the House of Representatives. But to do that, Democrats will need to flip at least four seats in the House of Representatives from red to blue, while retaining some of their most vulnerable districts.
Jeffries, along with fellow Democratic leaders from the House of Representatives, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Pete Aguilar of California, have racked up miles and traversed the country’s swingiest battleground districts, from New York to California.
That includes New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, where freshman Rep. Gabe Vasquez is locked in a rematch against his 2022 rival — a Republican he defeated by just 1,350 votes.
Asked whether Democrats will flip control, Jeffries repeatedly refused to give even a vibe check, saying only that “we’re working as hard as we can” and reiterating his belief that his party “ is right, in terms of our ideas.”
Ultimately, he acknowledged, “these are very evenly divided districts and close races that come down to a few thousand votes here and there. So it’s important for us to keep our foot on the accelerator and ensure that we do everything possible to deliver the House of Representatives’ Democratic vision to make life better for the American people.”
That’s the mentality Jeffries is taking across the country in the final weeks before Election Day, helping vulnerable “frontline” members defending in their districts — from Vasquez in New Mexico to Susan Wild in Pennsylvania — while encouraging members who hope they can doing. expand the map in all-important California and New York.
Opinion polls show that the race for control of the House of Representatives remains a toss-up affair – fitting for a House that has operated on a narrow majority (barely, at times) for the past two years.
Jeffries has learned from the chaotic nature of this Congress — which has made history for its capriciousness, from a multi-day, 17-round vote to elect Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as chairman to McCarthy’s impeachment less than a year later. punishment for working with Democrats to raise the nation’s debt limit.
“Calm is an intentional decision,” Jeffries said when asked how he guided his group through the tumult. “You cannot control the nature of the extraordinary events we must respond to time and time again, but you can control how you respond.”
Preparations for 2025
If Jeffries had his way, House Democrats would team up with a Kamala Harris administration in January. But it is also entirely possible that Jeffries will have to work with a second Trump administration as speaker or minority leader. And while he said Democrats in the House of Representatives will seek to work with “traditional Republican colleagues on any issue whenever and wherever possible,” he sees Trump as different.
“It is clear to us that Donald Trump intends to shove the extreme policies unequivocally outlined in Project 2025 down the throats of the American people. That is why these elections are so incredibly important,” he said.
Before governing can even begin, Congress must certify the election results. What was a constitutionally mandated, mundane process before January 6, 2021, has become a national turning point – one that puts a spotlight on the role and party affiliation of the speaker.
“The Democrats in the House of Representatives are committed to certifying the election based on the results that emerge in terms of who the American people choose as the 47th President of the United States of America,” Jeffries said. But it remains to be seen whether extreme MAGA Republicans will be willing to certify the election if Kamala Harris is successful. And that is a very worrying development.”
Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this weekend whether he will certify the election if Trump loses, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., responded with his oft-repeated contingency: “We’re going to do our job in Congress. free, fair and legal elections will be certified… Yes, if the elections are free, fair and legal, and we pray and hope that they are, much work is being done to ensure that is true.
What the Democrats would do
As speaker, Jeffries would be responsible for setting the House agenda for the first time in his career. His predecessor, Pelosi, led Democrats in the House of Representatives for 20 years, both as minority leader and as speaker. He continues to call her, including in the NBC News interview, “the greatest speaker of all time.”
He is hopeful that he will have President Harris as an ally if he wins the gavel for the next Congress. The two Democrats met during Harris’ brief time in the Senate, where they worked together on a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill, the First Step Act.
“It was clear that she was developing into a national leader from the moment she first arrived here,” Jeffries said.
Jeffries outlined Democrats’ priorities as “lowering costs, growing an opportunity economy, being there for working families” and expanding the child tax credit. He declined to detail which bill would be introduced first in the new Congress, typically reserved for a majority party priority and known as H.R. 1. But he suggested that restoring abortion rights protections would be high on the party’s to-do list would stand. .
“We will figure out the order of legislation that will be advanced on the floor of the House of Representatives, but it is fair to say that a top priority that is closely supported by the House Democratic Caucus from across the country is for to ensure that we succeed as we have done. I previously passed the Women’s Health Protection Act to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade and reproductive freedom across the country.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
