House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is “confident” in his chances of being elected Speaker of the House in January, he told reporters Monday, even as some of the soon-to-be members of his caucus declined to offer immediate support for the man who would be the first Black speaker.
Jeffries told reporters he expects in the coming days to speak with all the newly elected members about what he’s done as the top Democrat in the House over the last two years and about what he wants to do in the next Congress.
He said the caucus would meet next Wednesday to make a decision on their leader.
“We’re going to work as hard as we can to get to the 218 number, and we’re confident that we will get to that number and beyond,” Jeffries said on Capitol Hill, referring to the number needed to reach a majority of the full House of Representatives.
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Still, some candidates who were backed by the Democratic Socialists of America suggested amid orientation sessions earlier in the day they weren’t ready to give up their bargaining power.
“My mind is still around, how do we make sure that we’re fighting for working people across this country, and so I want a speaker that’s going to fight for working-class people … Medicare for All,” Rep.-elect Darializa Avila Chevalier of New York told The Washington Sun.
Similarly, incoming representative Melat Kiros of Colorado, who also backs Medicare for All and previously said she would not support a candidate for leader who accepts corporate PAC money, said she wants to know what the party leader’s priorities are.
“It’s not about who the person is to me; it’s about the agenda,” Kiros said when asked by The Sun about support for Jeffries. “I’m looking for an agenda that reflects the American people’s priorities.”
DSA-backed candidates have questioned whether Jeffries should continue to lead House Democrats, and progressives outside of Congress have been circulating a petition calling for Jeffries to step aside that’s so far gotten over 1 million signatures.
It’s not only the most progressive members of the incoming class who declined to commit. Some Democrats thought it was just too early to say much at all.
“I haven’t even had an opportunity to speak with [Jeffries],” Rep.-elect Katy Padilla Stout of Texas told The Sun. “I’d like to speak with him first … and get a real sense about everything before directly committing to an answer.”
“I’m listening to all the people out there,” said North Carolina’s Richard Ojeda.
Democrats are on track to control at least 254 seats, giving Jeffries a healthy margin beyond the 218 votes he needs to win.
Many incoming members also indicated strong support for the leader.
“I think [Jeffries] is fostering a real conversation about Democratic priorities and a bold agenda, and that’s why I think he’d be a good speaker,” another New Yorker, Micah Lasher, told The Sun.
In 2019, Nancy Pelosi made concessions to holdouts — including agreeing to limit her time in the role — and still had 15 members defect. Like Jeffries, Pelosi had to wrangle a caucus defined by a large incoming class made up of both progressives from solid blue districts and moderates who won in places that voted overwhelmingly for Trump just two years prior.
If Democrats who declined to offer immediate backing for Jeffries are looking for an alternative, so far, they’re out of luck.
“No one else has put their name forward, and that there is a sign that a lot of folks are trusting Leader Jeffries and his experience,” said Rep.-elect Cyril Jefferson of North Carolina.
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