Nolan D. McCaskill
House Democrats tapped Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday to steer them within the subsequent Congress, and elected California Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) as House Democratic Caucus chair.
The historic number of Jeffries because the incoming minority chief means he’ll exchange Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) in January because the highest-ranking African American member of the House and turn out to be the primary Black lawmaker to steer both celebration within the chamber.
In addition to Aguilar, Jeffries might be joined within the prime tier of management by Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) as minority whip.
Democrats say their new management group is reflective of America’s variety.
Clark will turn out to be the second lady in congressional historical past to function whip, tasking her with having a grip on the place members stand on legislative points, and when wanted, pressuring them to toe the celebration line.
Aguilar will comply with former Reps. Xavier Becerra of Los Angeles and Robert Menendez of New Jersey because the third Latino member to chair the Democratic Caucus. Becerra is now secretary of Health and Human Services, whereas Menendez is a member of the Senate.
In his new publish, Aguilar will lead caucus conferences and maintain weekly information conferences. The place is proscribed to 2 consecutive phrases, however Aguilar can be poised to turn out to be majority whip if Democrats take again the House in 2024.
The incoming group of Democratic leaders will succeed the celebration’s longtime management trio of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) and Clyburn, who at the moment serves as majority whip.
That group of octogenarians will proceed their service into the subsequent Congress, although solely Clyburn will stay in management, serving as assistant Democratic chief.
On Tuesday evening, nonetheless, the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee voted unanimously to grant Pelosi the honorific title of speaker emerita.
The Brooklyn-born Jeffries, 52, was a lawyer earlier than serving six years within the New York State Assembly, which he left on the finish of 2012 after profitable a congressional seat.
He entered House Democratic management in 2017 as a co-chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, which works on caucus messaging.
He ascended to caucus chairman in 2019, serving two phrases in the next tier of management, main caucus conferences and internet hosting weekly information conferences alongside Aguilar, his deputy.
In her nominating speech Wednesday, Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragan (D-San Pedro) mentioned Jeffries, the son of two social staff, “was literally born into a life of public service,” and that he would pursue “progressive policies that will move us forward.”
Though a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Jeffries separated himself from the “hard-left” faction of his celebration in an interview with the Atlantic final yr.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, instructed reporters Wednesday that she met with Jeffries and helps his management.
“I wanted to make sure that that relationship is clear from the very beginning: that progressives are here to help govern, to push for the best ideas, and I was really encouraged by what I heard,” she mentioned. “I’m looking forward to a really good relationship.”
An advocate of social and financial justice, Jeffries notched a prime legislative achievement with the bipartisan First Step Act, legal justice reform laws signed into regulation by then-President Trump. He served as one of many House prosecutors within the first impeachment of Trump.
Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar will lead House Democrats with the outgoing management group’s blessing and no particular person challengers. But members say they collectively face the problem of getting to succeed a historic chief in Pelosi and her management group.
“She made a razor-thin majority look easy, but it’s not easy,” mentioned Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Menlo Park), who referred to as Pelosi “irreplaceable,” a descriptor seconded by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank).
“People will begin to see what a miracle worker she’s been, how difficult that job is, how it requires an encyclopedic knowledge of everyone’s wants, needs, what they really want and what they really need,” Schiff mentioned.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) acknowledged Jeffries has massive footwear to fill, noting Pelosi’s outsized function in candidate recruitment, fundraising and serving to the celebration.
“People will be open to giving him a real chance to lead and unify the caucus,” he mentioned. “It’s going to be quickly apparent, though, how much Nancy Pelosi did for this caucus and how difficult that job is going to be.”
Jeffries’ supporters imagine he’s as much as the duty. Retiring Rep. G.Ok. Butterfield (D-N.C.), a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, mentioned he has identified Jeffries since his first day in Congress.
Butterfield predicted Jeffries “will go down in history as one of the greatest Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives.”
“He is a man of impeccable character,” Butterfield mentioned. “He is exemplary. He also adds to that a set of political skills that are unmatched. He has the ability to sit in boardrooms and to sit in high-level political discussions and to contribute immeasurably. And he also has the ability to relate to the average American, those who are back at home in our districts who work every day in hardworking positions in their communities. He has a broad array of talents.”
Jeffries’ launch as chief might show just a little simpler within the minority, the place Democrats will now not management the legislative agenda.
This story initially appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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