House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries officially declared his bid for the speaker’s gavel Wednesday after Democrats gained a large majority in the chamber in the midterm elections.
The New York Democrat made his candidacy official in a letter to victorious Democratic colleagues.
“We must now deliver the dramatic change the American people are demanding in the majority,” he wrote.
People were interested in these podcasts
In his letter, Mr. Jeffries listed his immediate priorities, such as undoing Republicans’ food stamp and Medicaid policies, as well as ending President Trump’s tariffs and the war with Iran.
He also pledged to use Congress’ oversight powers to “hold the crooks accountable” within the administration.
Top Democrats on the House Oversight and Judiciary committees have announced plans to use their subpoena power to probe the Trump administration and its allies.
Mr. Jeffries celebrated Tuesday’s results as a rebuke of the administration.
“The American people have now broken the fever of MAGA extremism once and for all. Our hard-fought success gives us the opportunity to restore the promise of an affordable America in every community,” he wrote.
By the time of Mr. Jeffries’ letter being released, the Associated Press had already called almost 240 seats of the House’s 435 seats for Democrats, with dozens of races yet to be called.
The large majority means Mr. Jeffries can afford to lose the votes of some members of the expanded hard-left faction of the House who have not publicly committed to supporting him.
Mr. Jeffries, 56, will need a simple majority of votes on the House floor in January in order to gain the speaker’s gavel.
Mr. Jeffries succeeded Rep. Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, as leader in 2022 after Democrats lost the House.
He would be the first Black House speaker.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.