WASHINGTON (AP) — House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was re-elected as Democratic leader Tuesday, drawing support from his colleagues despite the party’s inability to regain majority control of the chamber in the November elections.
Jeffries, of New York, was elected during an internal party vote of House Democrats underway at the Capitol. Most of the Democratic leadership team is expected to be re-elected to the new Congress.
Jeffries is poised to become Speaker of the House of Representatives and remains the highest-ranking Black elected official in Congress, and the first to hold the position of party leader.
He failed to win the gavel after Republicans came to power with newly elected President Donald Trump and won control of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives.
Although the Democratic leader will be the party’s nominee for Speaker of the House of Representatives, the gavel is expected to go to Speaker Mike Johnson as Republicans continue to hold the majority in the new year.
Jeffries and the House Democratic leadership work as a team — a trio of leaders from the younger generation who took over when Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi relinquished leadership two years ago. Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar of California were all expected to win their re-elections on Tuesday.
Democrats in the House of Representatives won some seats in hard-fought regions, including Jeffries’ home state of New York and California. But they also lost seats elsewhere and failed to topple some incumbent Republicans, and overall there was little change in the House of Representatives.
Republicans under Johnson retain the majority by a very narrow margin – their numbers dwindling in the new year as Trump has tapped three Republican lawmakers Elise Stefanik, Mike Waltz and Matt Gaetz to serve in his administration. Some must be confirmed by the Senate.
