Hakeem Jeffries poised to become first Black House speaker as Democrats flood his office with calls to block him

Hakeem Jeffries is all but certain to become the first Black speaker of the House of Representatives — and the phones in Democratic offices won't stop ringing with voters demanding he not get the job.

More than a dozen House Democratic lawmakers and aides tell Axios they are being bombarded with calls and emails from constituents urging them to vote against Jeffries when the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3. One incoming House Democrat said they had received 'about 150' such calls since the election. A senior House Democrat reported 'over 500' calls in just the last two days — and said the issue came up in person at a Chamber of Commerce meeting in their district. According to a third lawmaker who spoke with Axios, the volume of contacts surpassed 500, making it by far the top concern coming into the office.

According to Axios, the calls reveal a deep rift between House Democrats — the majority of whom are still expected to back Jeffries — and at least part of their grassroots base. The previous speaker vote took place in January 2025, shortly before the Democratic base turned sharply critical of party leadership over what it viewed as too little pushback against the Trump administration.

Despite the pressure from outside, Jeffries' position inside the caucus remains formidable. He has enjoyed unanimous support from House Democrats since becoming minority leader in 2022 and has never had a single member defect from him in a speaker vote, according to Axios. In a letter sent to colleagues Wednesday, he formally sought their backing, asking them to support his bid to serve as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.

This is not a partisan moment. This is a patriotic one.— Hakeem Jeffries, House Democratic Leader

Democrats swept to a majority of more than 250 seats in Tuesday's midterm elections, according to Jeffries' own projection, with Ballotpedia's count showing Democrats had won 248 seats and Republicans 150 as of Nov. 6, with 37 races still uncalled. The scale of the victory — 43 seats flipping to Democrats against just two going the other way — leaves Jeffries with a commanding margin to win the speakership on the House floor, where 218 votes are required.

If elected, Jeffries would be the first Black lawmaker to hold the speaker's gavel, a position that is second in the presidential line of succession and the only leadership role in Congress mandated by the U.S. Constitution, according to the AP. The Brooklyn-born 56-year-old has represented parts of the borough since 2013 and is already the highest-ranking Black elected official in America, according to the AP.

His rise traces a long arc. According to the AP, Joseph Rainey became the first Black American elected to the House in 1870, and Jeffries would hold the speaker's gavel in a building that enslaved African Americans helped erect — at a time when many achievements of the 20th-century Civil Rights movement face renewed challenges.

Jeffries outlined three priorities for the new Congress in his letter to colleagues: affordability, accountability, and American values. He pledged to pursue oversight and investigations of the Trump administration, suggested Democrats would seek to reverse Medicaid cuts and extend Obamacare tax credits, and said impeachment remains an option, according to Fox News. He has promised a robust 100-day agenda and said his goal is to show voters that Democrats can govern.

This is a change election, and we understand as House Democrats that we need to deliver dramatic change. Things are broken. We need a Congress that puts the American people first.— Hakeem Jeffries, House Democratic Leader

His two top deputies are expected to move up with him: Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts is expected to become majority leader and Rep. Pete Aguilar of California majority whip, according to the AP. Both won reelection, according to Ballotpedia.

On the Republican side, outgoing Speaker Mike Johnson announced he will not seek the minority leader role, according to the LA Times, though he is expected to remain in the House as a rank-and-file member from Louisiana. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio are both running for the minority leader position, setting up what the LA Times described as a familiar showdown between the party's conservative and hard-right flanks.

Jeffries' path to the speakership is not without internal complications. A handful of Democratic Socialists of America-backed members were elected to the new Congress and are expected to push the party leftward, according to the AP and NPR. On his own positioning, Jeffries has been unambiguous: in a 2021 interview with The Atlantic, he said, 'There will never be a moment where I bend the knee to hard-left democratic socialism.' According to the AP, the more moderate New Democrat Coalition is expected to remain the largest caucus in the House.

Colleagues have praised Jeffries' collaborative style, describing him as a listener who represents a shift from former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's tenure. But his deliberative approach has also drawn criticism that he can be too slow to act in a fast-moving political environment, according to the AP. Democratic leadership elections are scheduled for mid-December, with the full House floor vote set for Jan. 3, when the new Congress convenes.

Why it matters — Jeffries' near-certain elevation to the first Black speakership is being shadowed by a grassroots revolt from within his own party's base — a tension that will define whether Democrats can hold together a wide but ideologically fractious majority against the Trump administration.

Reported by axios.com, foxnews.com, www-s4.npr.org, ballotpedia.org, hindustantimes.com, ap.org, reuters.com, latimes.com