Posts tagged with "Hakeem Jeffries"

McCarthy plans to block three Democrats from committees if he becomes House Speaker

November 22, 2022

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy served further notice on Sunday, November 20, that his potential speakership will be politically volatile—saying he will try to kick three high-profile Democrats off of certain committees, reports USA Today.

Democrats said McCarthy will do whatever his right wing wants him to do because he still lacks the votes to land the speaker’s job.

In stumping for the position, McCarthy has targeted Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Representatives Adam Schiff (D-California), and Eric Swalwell (D-California), members of the House Intelligence Committee.

McCarthy and other Republicans have for months said that these members’ past statements and actions regarding issues like Israel, China, and Russia should keep them off these committees.

“I’ll keep that promise” to remove them, McCarthy told Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures.

Schiff and other Democrats said McCarthy is trying to court support from hard-right conservatives like Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia)—who was expelled from committees during a 2021 vote of the full House because of her incendiary statements about Democrats.

“I suspect he will do whatever Marjorie Taylor Greene wants him to do,” Schiff said on ABC’s This Week. “He is a very weak leader of his conference, meaning that he will adhere to the wishes of the lowest common denominator. And if that lowest common denominator wants to remove people from committees, that’s what they’ll do.”

McCarthy is favored to become Speaker of the House when Republicans take over the chamber next year—but it is not yet a done deal.

Conservative Republicans like Representatives Andy Biggs of Arizona and Matt Gaetz of Florida said they will oppose McCarthy. Every vote counts because the GOP majority will likely be no more than ten seats.

“He does seem to be struggling” to get to the 218 votes necessary to win the speakership, said Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), who is expected to be Democratic leader in the next Congress.

“Let’s see what happens on January 3,” Jeffries said on CNN’s State of the Union.

Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois), who is retiring from Congress and ran afoul of McCarthy over the latter’s support of Donald Trump, told CNN that the presumed speaker has made a lot of promises to Greene and other hard-right conservatives.

Right-wing Republicans won’t be happy if McCarthy has to cut deals with Democrats to get essential business done, Kinzinger said, and he could wind up as their political hostage.

“I, frankly, don’t think he’s going to last very long,” Kinzinger said. “Maybe he will prove me wrong. But it’s sad to see a man that I think had so much potential just totally sell himself.”

Research contact: @USATODAY

Above Hakeem Jeffries has a shot at becoming the first Black House Speaker. (Photo source: jeffries.house.gov)

Pelosi’s decision to step aside paves path for a new generation of Democrats

November 21, 2022

Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement on Thursday, November 17, that she would step away from the leadership ranks has set in motion a long-anticipated generational change in leadership for House Democrats, with a younger group of lawmakers set to take the mantle from the three octogenarians who have for years led the party in the House, reports The New York Times.

For two decades, Pelosi of California, 82, and Representatives Steny Hoyer of Maryland, 83, the House majority leader, and James Clyburn of South Carolina, 82, the Democratic whip, have remained at the top of their party in the House—freezing out dozens of ambitious junior lawmakers who were eager to ascend to more senior roles. Some left the House altogether rather than wait years for a chance to ascend, while many others have stayed, waiting less and less patiently for the day when Pelosi would step aside and make way for fresher faces.

Now, the old guard is heading out, and a new one coming in.

In announcing her plans, Pelosi said it was time for a younger crop of leaders to emerge, and Hoyer quickly followed suit, throwing his support behind Representative Hakeem Jeffries, of New York, 52, who is widely seen as her likeliest successor as Democratic leader.

Clyburn, who is also expected to cede his position in favor of a lower-ranking spot, according to people familiar with his plans, left his intentions vague on Thursday. But he pointed to a new generation of leaders, saying he looked forward to Jeffries and Representatives Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, 59, and Pete Aguilar of California, 43, as the new top Democrats in the House.

The three lawmakers have formed a tight alliance in the last two years in the more junior ranks of leadership and are widely viewed as the sole contenders for the top three slots in the caucus. House Democrats are scheduled to meet on November 30 to elect their leaders for the next Congress.

The three were careful on Thursday to avoid openly articulating their leadership ambitions on a day focused on Pelosi’s legacy. Leaving the House chamber after she delivered her emotional speech announcing plans to exit as a leader, Jeffries brushed aside questions and declared it “the day to celebrate the extraordinary accomplishments of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a leader for the ages.”

“We’ll see what happens as we move forward,” said Mr. Jeffries, who, if elected as Democratic leader, would make history as the first Black person in the top leadership position in either chamber.

Research contact: @nytimes

Above, Lead House Manager Adam Schiff and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (Photo source: PBS News Hour)