Hakeem Jeffries Poised to Become House Speaker After Democratic Midterm Win
Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader from New York, is poised to become Speaker of the House when the new Congress takes office in January, Al Jazeera reported on November 7, 2026. The Speaker is the presiding officer of the House and one of the most senior posts in Congress, the national legislature.
The move follows the midterm elections held on November 3. Democrats won a House majority, according to Al Jazeera, and the Associated Press reported that Democrats also won control of the Senate, the upper chamber of Congress.
Jeffries is 56 years old. He was born in Brooklyn Hospital and grew up in Crown Heights, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City. He is the son of two social workers and attended the city's public schools. Before entering politics, he worked as a corporate lawyer.
His political career began in state government. He lost two runs for the New York State Assembly before winning a seat in 2006, and he was elected to Congress six years later. He became chair of the House Democratic Caucus, the group of the party's members in the chamber, in 2019. He was one of seven House impeachment managers, the lawmakers who act as prosecutors, who presented the case for removing Donald Trump from office to the Senate during Trump's first impeachment trial. Earlier, he helped broker a bipartisan criminal justice reform law that Trump signed in 2018.
When Nancy Pelosi stepped aside as House Democratic leader, Jeffries was unanimously chosen to succeed her. If elected Speaker, he would be the first Black person to hold the post. He would also be the first Black politician to lead a party in either chamber of Congress, according to Al Jazeera.
Jeffries has described his priorities for the coming Congress. In an interview on News 12 before the election, he said his first priority was re-electing incumbent Democrats including Tom Suozzi, Laura Gillen and Josh Riley. After the midterm results, he promised a focus on affordability, and he said the incoming Democratic majority would focus on accountability, as Reuters reported.
The Speaker is chosen by a vote of the full House, and Democrats have already backed him. House Democrats unanimously voted to renominate him for the post. Al Jazeera reported, however, that several newly elected progressive lawmakers have not said whether they will support him.
