Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is on the cusp of making history as the nation’s first Black speaker of the House, a generational shift in US politics after Democrats trounced Republicans to win majority control of the chamber in the midterm elections.
Jeffries faces a vote of his colleagues when the new Congress convenes January 3. If nominated and elected, as expected, it would be the first time a Black lawmaker has grasped the powerful House speaker’s gavel, a job second in line to the president and the only leadership position in Congress mandated by the US Constitution.
His rise to the speakership at the nation’s domed Capitol would be a milestone more than 150 years in the making, tracing an arc of history that began with the first Black American was elected to the US House in the turbulent era of Reconstruction after the Civil War. Jeffries would wield the gavel at a time when many of the landmark gains of the 20th century Civil Rights era are being challenged anew, often by the Trump administration.
Jeffries was met with cheers of “Speaker! Speaker!” at the Democrats’ watch party in Washington.
“This is not a partisan moment. This is a patriotic one,” Jeffries said.
He said House Democrats understand that this is a change election, and “the American people are crying out for transformational change.”
“We hear you,” he said. “We’re going to work hard to deliver on the dramatic change that you deserve.”
The Brooklyn-born 56-year-old Jeffries, who is known to sprinkle old-school hip hop lyrics in his freestyle remarks, would take over the office from Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, at a time when Democrats are eager to confront President Donald Trump’s final two years in office.
