Jeffries was a fixture on political shows on Wednesday as Democrats’ massive victories across the country have set the stage for a historic House vote in January.
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), on the heels of Democrats regaining control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, has formally announced his bid to become the first Black Speaker of the House.
In a letter sent to colleagues on Wednesday, Jeffries urged Democrats to view Tuesday’s historic and decisive victory as the ultimate call for something different that benefits all Americans.
“We must now deliver the dramatic change the American people are demanding in the majority,” he wrote.
Jeffries spent most of Wednesday conducting hits on various TV networks and was frequently asked what Democrats would do with their newfound power in Washington. Would they go after President Donald Trump and seek a record third impeachment? How would they tackle ICE and other forms of government corruption?
Some Democrats, like Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA), said that Democrats could “walk and chew gum” when it came to addressing both issues.
“The American people sent a clear mandate again,” he told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday. “They are suffering under these costs… but we can walk and chew gum at the same time… this is the most corrupt administration in American history, and it is literally costing the American people.”
Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock on whether Dems should focus on affordability or corruption when they retake Congress: “The American people sent a clear mandate again. They are suffering under these costs… but we can walk and chew gum at the same time… this is the most… pic.twitter.com/MNpTtR3AxL
Others, like former Vice President Kamala Harris, urged Dems to be “ruthless” to deliver results for Americans.
Jeffries appears to be in lockstep with both.
In an interview with Don Lemon on “The Don Lemon Show,” Jeffries echoed the sentiments of his letter, focusing on accountability alongside affordability.
“We will deliver accountability,” Jeffries told Lemon. “The three big issues the American people wanted to confront: of course costs and care, that’s healthcare, child care and elder care- and cleaning up corruption in the face of the biggest Trump Cartel-like scheme that the American people have experienced in the 10 or 11 years that we’ve been dealing with these folks.”
When pressed about whether, under Jeffries, ICE would be part of that accountability along with people who Trump politically targeted, the House minority leader said anyone that has been “screwing over the American people” would be held accountable on “day one of the new Congress.”
“We’ve always made clear that folks engaging in this brazen behavior that the statute of limitations at the federal level was five years and I never understood why they might be able to escape accountability,” Jeffries said of ICE agents who violated the law.
Jeffries, long considered a successor to Nancy Pelosi, frequently touted accountability in Dems’ national messaging ahead of the midterms. In his letter, he outlined what Dems must do within the first 100 days of the new session, including a reversal of Medicaid cuts, restoration of SNAP funding, an extension of tax credits in the Affordable Care Act, ending Trump’s tariffs and ending the war in Iran.
Tuesday wasn’t just a blue wave across the country. It was a blue tsunami, according to pundits across both sides of the aisle. And Jeffries appears poised to take the speaker’s gavel in January with a firm belief that Tuesday night signaled a change in the country: “The era of MAGA extremism is coming to a crashing end.”
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