US Midterm Election: Who Is Hakeem Jeffries? Democrat likely to become first black Speaker of US House | Key achievements | Today’s news

Following the Democrats’ victory in Tuesday’s US election, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has thrown his hat into the race for Speaker of the House of Representatives. If elected, Jeffries would become the first black speaker in the history of the US House of Representatives.

The job of Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives is the second in line after the president and the only leadership position in Congress mandated by the U.S. Constitution.

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

“I am writing to humbly ask for your support in my bid to be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives,” Jeffries said in the letter, according to ABC News.

Quick answers to key questions

•5 QUESTIONS

Hakeem Jeffries is a Democrat from New York’s Eighth Congressional District and the Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives. Prior to that, he served as a legislator and attorney in New York State.

Yes. If elected speaker, Jeffries would be the first black man to hold the role. He had already become the first black man to lead a party in Congress.

First, he needs a simple majority of House Democrats to nominate him in the party leadership election. After convening a new Congress, he would then need 218 votes on the floor of the House.

Jeffries said he wants to put affordability, accountability and American values ​​at the center of the Democratic agenda. His plans include tackling household costs and reversing Trump-era health care spending cuts.

He may have to manage disagreements in his party on issues including economic policy and Israel, while deciding how to respond to calls for an investigation or impeachment. Related coverage also points to the importance of maintaining cooperation between the two sides.

His announcement came after Democrats posted gains in midterm elections, with the party expected to take control of both houses of Congress — the House and Senate.

How will the new Speaker of the US House be elected?

According to ABC News, the Democratic leadership election 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 need 218 votes on the House floor to become speaker when the new Congress convenes in January.

Who is Hakeem Jeffries?

Jeffries, a Republican, was born in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York in 1970 and is a Democratic leader. He represents New York’s diverse 8th Congressional District and is serving his seventh term in the US Congress.

Jeffries, a married father of two, grew up in Brooklyn’s Basic Stone Baptist Church and represents parts of a Brooklyn-area district once held by trailblazing Rep. Shirley Chisholm.

A rebel himself, Jeffries was 29 when he first ran for office, failing twice in his initial campaigns for state government. In 2012, he challenged the 30-year incumbent congressman, who stepped down when Jeffries descended to win the seat.

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

He is also a former chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Whip of the Congressional Black Caucus and formerly co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.

He was previously an attorney at a major law firm and a New York State legislator.

Jeffries, 56, is known for adding old-school hip-hop lyrics to his freestyle notes. He would take over the office from Republican Speaker Mike Johnson as Democrats seek to counter President Donald Trump’s final two years in office.

The son of an Air Force veteran and a social worker, Jeffries’ ascension to the rostrum in the nation’s vaulted Capitol that enslaved African Americans helped build would be a milestone more than 150 years in the making that traces the arc of history that began with the first black American elected to the House of Representatives in the tumultuous post-Civil War Reconstruction era.

Jeffries, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, follows in the footsteps of those who came before, including Joseph Rainey, the first black American elected to the House in 1870. Although Rainey never became speaker, he was the first black lawmaker to chair the House with the gavel.

Jeffries education

Jeffries earned a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton, a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown, and graduated magna cum laude from the NYU School of Law. He worked as a corporate attorney 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 lead the impeachment proceedings against Donald J. Trump in his previous term.

According to his website profile, in January 2020, Jeffries was selected by Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to serve as one of seven House impeachment managers in the Senate trial of President Donald Trump, becoming the first African-American in the role.

During the nearly three-week trial, Congressman Jeffries argued that President Trump should be impeached 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 person to lead a party in Congress when he took over the House Democratic leadership from Nancy Pelosi after the party lost its majority in the 2022 election, the Wall Street Journal reported.

He is now 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 leave after the Democrats’ 2022 election losses.

3. During the 117th Congress, Rep. Jeffries was one of the most effective legislators, passing several bills through the House of Representatives and pushing them through with significant bipartisan and stakeholder support.

Jeffries’ priorities

In his letter to Democrats, Jeffries also outlined his priorities for the upcoming Congress, putting affordability, accountability and American values ​​at the center of the Democratic agenda.

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

According to the WSJ, first on Jeffries’ to-do list is to reverse Trump-era health care spending cuts and deal with rising household costs. He plans to push back against the White House’s handling of the Iran war and ensure scrutiny of the president’s trade agenda.