US Midterm Elections: Who Is Hakeem Jeffries? Democrat Likely To Become First Black US House Speaker Key Achievements

(MENAFN- Live Mint) After Democrats' victory in the US midterm elections held on Tuesday, US House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has thrown his hat in the race to become the US House Speaker. If elected, Jeffries would become the first Black Speaker in the history of the US House of Representatives.

The US House Speaker's job is second in line to the president and the only leadership position in Congress mandated by the US Constitution.

Jeffries formally announced his bid to become the next US House Speaker on Wednesday. According to ABC News, Jeffries made the announcement in a letter to his Democratic colleagues on Wednesday, seeking their support ahead of the party's leadership elections scheduled for November 18.

“I write to humbly request your support in connection with my candidacy to serve as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives,” Jeffries said in the letter, as reported by ABC News.

Quick answers to key questions

.5 QUESTIONS1Who is Hakeem Jeffries?⌵

Hakeem Jeffries is a Democrat from New York's Eighth Congressional District and the House Democratic Leader. He previously served as a New York state lawmaker and litigator.

2Would Hakeem Jeffries be the first Black Speaker of the House?⌵

Yes. If elected Speaker, Jeffries would be the first Black person to hold the role. He has already become the first Black man to lead a party in Congress.

3How can Hakeem Jeffries become House Speaker?⌵

He first needs a simple majority of House Democrats to nominate him in the party's leadership election. He would then need 218 votes on the House floor when the new Congress convenes.

4What are Hakeem Jeffries' priorities as a potential House Speaker?⌵

Jeffries has said he wants to put affordability, accountability and American values at the centre of the Democratic agenda. His stated plans include addressing household costs and reversing Trump-era cuts to healthcare spending.

5What challenges could Hakeem Jeffries face as Democratic leader?⌵

He may need to manage disagreements within his party over issues including economic policy and Israel, while deciding how to respond to calls for investigations or impeachment. The related coverage also notes the importance of maintaining bipartisan cooperation.

His announcement came after Democrats registered gains in the midterm elections, with the party projected to take control of both chambers of Congress - the House and the Senate.

How will the new US House Speaker be elected?

According to ABC News, the Democratic leadership elections will be held behind closed doors on November 18.

Jeffries will need the support of a simple majority of House Democrats to secure the party's nomination. He would then require 218 votes on the House floor to become Speaker when the new Congress convenes in January.

Who is Hakeem Jeffries?

Born in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York in 1970, Rep. Jeffries is the Democratic Leader. He represents the diverse Eighth Congressional District of New York and is serving his seventh term in the US Congress.

A married father of two, Jeffries grew up steeped in Brooklyn's Cornerstone Baptist Church, and represents parts of the Brooklyn-area district once held by trailblazing Rep. Shirley Chisholm.

An insurgent himself, Jeffries was 29 when he first ran for office, failing twice in his initial campaigns for state government. In 2012, he challenged a 30-year incumbent member of Congress, who stepped aside as Jeffries swooped in to win the seat.

He was first elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Thirteenth (113) Congress and has so far been a member of six succeeding Congresses - 113th-119th (2013-Present).

He is also the former Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Whip of the Congressional Black Caucus and previously co-chaired the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.

He was previously a litigator at a major law firm and a New York state lawmaker.

Jeffries, 56, is known for sprinkling old-school hip-hop lyrics into his freestyle remarks. He would take over the office from Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, as Democrats seek to confront President Donald Trump's final two years in office.

The son of an Air Force veteran and a social worker, Jeffries' rise to the speakership at the nation's domed Capitol, which enslaved African Americans helped build, would be a milestone more than 150 years in the making, tracing an arc of history that began with the first Black American elected to the US House in the turbulent era of post-Civil War Reconstruction, AP reported.

A member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Jeffries follows in the footsteps of those who came before, including Joseph Rainey, the first Black American elected to the House in 1870. While Rainey never became speaker, he was the first Black lawmaker to preside with the gavel over the House chamber.

Jeffries' education

Jeffries earned a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton, a master's degree in public policy at Georgetown and graduated magna cum laude from NYU School of Law. He worked as a corporate lawyer and served in the New York State assembly before being elected to Congress.

Jeffries' key achievements:

1. Jeffries was one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 2020 to conduct the impeachment proceedings of Donald J. Trump in his previous term.

According to his profile on a webpage, in January 2020, Jeffries was selected by the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to serve as one of seven House Impeachment Managers in the Senate trial of President Donald Trump, becoming the first African-American man to serve in that role.

During the nearly three-week trial, Congressman Jeffries argued that President Trump should be removed from office for abusing his power by pressuring a foreign government, Ukraine, to target an American citizen as part of a corrupt scheme to interfere in the 2020 election.

2. Jeffries became the first Black man to lead a party in Congress when he took over leading House Democrats from Nancy Pelosi after the party lost its majority in the 2022 midterm elections, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Now, he is expected to become the first Democratic Speaker since Nancy Pelosi and has led the party for the past four years, with her support, once she decided to step aside after the Democrats' election losses in 2022.

3. During the 117th Congress, Rep. Jeffries was one of the most effective legislators, passing multiple bills through the House of Representatives and into law with substantial bipartisan and stakeholder support.

Jeffries' priorities

In his letter to Democrats, Jeffries also outlined his priorities for the incoming Congress, placing affordability, accountability and American values at the centre of the Democratic agenda.

“In the new Congress, we will aggressively fight for an affordable America. Life is way too expensive, and millions of hardworking taxpayers are drowning in this failed economy,” he wrote.

According to the WSJ, first on Jeffries' to-do list is to reverse Trump-era cuts to healthcare spending and tackle rising household costs. He plans to push back against the White House's handling of the war in Iran and provide a check on the president's trade agenda.

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