Hakeem Jeffries set to become first Black House speaker

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York is on track to become the first Black member elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The 52-year-old Democrat secured the position after leading his party to a decisive victory in the midterm elections held this week. Jeffries has served in the House since 2013 and was elected House minority leader in 2022. That role made him the first Black politician to lead either party in the House or Senate. As speaker, he will rank second in the presidential line of succession, immediately behind the vice president.

His path to the speakership spans nearly 14 years of service in Congress. Jeffries began his tenure as a rank-and-file member focused on criminal justice policy. He later rose to become a top lieutenant to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. His career includes leading the Congressional Black Caucus and managing the House Democratic caucus. His time in office began after a six-year stint in the New York State Assembly, where he helped regulate warrantless stop-and-frisk searches by the New York City Police Department.

Before entering politics, Jeffries worked as a lawyer in private practice. He has cited his time in a law school legal clinic as the starting point for his interest in criminal justice reform. He stated in a 2023 interview that he wanted to address the broken criminal justice system through public service. During the first Trump administration, Jeffries led the effort to pass the bipartisan First Step Act. The legislation reduced sentences for certain drug crimes. The work required close collaboration with Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law at the time.

Jeffries described the partnership with Kushner as producing real results. He told Time magazine that achieving goals in Washington often requires a coalition of unusual suspects. He faced criticism from some Democrats earlier this year for meeting privately with Kushner. The New York Times first reported the meeting, which Jeffries later confirmed. He said he accepted the meeting at Kushner’s request to discuss affordability issues. He added that Democrats plan to hold the administration accountable for its actions.

Jeffries has navigated the internal dynamics of the House Democratic caucus with varying degrees of alignment. He was once a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and sponsored Medicare for All proposals. He has faced skepticism from the party’s left wing regarding his approach to governance. As speaker, he must manage a growing number of Democratic Socialist-aligned members in the new legislative term. He told The Atlantic in 2021 that he would never bend the knee to hard-left democratic socialism.

He noted that Black progressives often tackle issues with an understanding of systemic racism in America. He contrasted this with his perception of hard-left progressives, who he said view the defining problem in America as anchored in class. He said, “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. In that trial, Trump withheld military aid while pushing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election.

Jeffries has not committed to pursuing impeachment again in Trump’s second term. He told Fox News in April that it was not a top priority for Democrats. In September, he told ABC that Democrats have not ruled anything in or out. He maintains that the primary focus for the new Congress is lowering costs for Americans. On Tuesday night, Jeffries said the election represented a change vote. He stated, “Things are broken. We need a Congress that puts the American people first.”

The House will hold a floor vote for the speaker position when the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3. Jeffries is expected to win that vote comfortably given the size of the Democratic majority.