Jeffries Closes In on History as First Black Speaker of the House

Hakeem Jeffries is about to grab the gavel that no Black lawmaker ever has. The Democratic leader is on track to become the first Black speaker of the House when the new Congress convenes Jan. 3, after Democrats trounced Republicans to win majority control of the chamber. Colleagues are expected to formally nominate him in the coming weeks, and the full House votes on the speaker as one of its first acts in January.

The milestone traces an arc more than 150 years long. Joseph Rainey became the first Black American elected to the House in 1870, during Reconstruction, and was the first Black lawmaker to preside over the chamber with the gavel — though he never held the speaker's post. Jeffries would take power at the Capitol that enslaved African Americans helped build, at a moment when civil rights-era gains are being challenged anew, often by the Trump administration.

Jeffries, 56, was met with chants of “Speaker! Speaker!” at the Democrats' watch party in Washington. “This is not a partisan moment. This is a patriotic one,” he told the crowd, saying Democrats heard voters' demand for “transformational change.” The Brooklyn-born lawyer has served in Congress since 2013 and is the highest-ranking Black elected official in the country.

He'd take over from Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, and become the first Democratic speaker since Nancy Pelosi. Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts is expected to become majority leader and Rep. Pete Aguilar of California majority whip, the trio that has led House Democrats for the past four years. Jeffries has promised a 100-day push to lower the cost of living plus oversight and investigations aimed at holding Trump accountable, with impeachment on the table.

The job comes with a steep learning curve. Jeffries must keep an often unruly House in line while facing off with Trump, who has taunted him publicly and privately — including a social media post of a fake photo showing Jeffries in a sombrero. He also has to manage a fresh class of Democrats, including a handful backed by the Democratic Socialists of America pushing the party leftward, even as the more moderate New Democrat Coalition is expected to remain the largest caucus.

Colleagues praise Jeffries as a collaborative listener, a contrast to Pelosi's powerful tenure, though critics say his deliberative style can be too slow for a frenzied political climate. The son of an Air Force veteran and a social worker, he grew up in Brooklyn's Cornerstone Baptist Church and now represents parts of the district once held by Shirley Chisholm. He ran for office at 29 and lost twice before unseating a 30-year incumbent in 2012.