Hakeem Jeffries elected House Democratic leader as GOP is set to retain control of lower chamber

Washington — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was elected Tuesday to lead Democrats for another two years in the minority despite the party failing to flip control of the lower chamber in the 2024 election. 

Democrats held their leadership elections on Tuesday as the party seeks to keep its leadership intact as it reels from the bruising losses in the 2024 elections. 

Democratic caucus chair Rep. Pete Aguilar of California was reelected Tuesday morning, as was House Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, who will continue in her role in the 119th Congress, beginning in January. 

One race was injected with some uncertainty, as Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas launched an eleventh-hour challenge against Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan for chair of Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. Despite the last-minute challenge, the caucus reelected Dingell for the role on Tuesday.

Jeffries made history in 2023 when he became the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress, succeeding former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the top Democrat in the lower chamber. He was set to again make history as the first Black speaker had Democrats gained control of the House. 

Heading into Election Day, Democrats needed a net gain of four seats to win the majority. Though Democrats won more than a handful of Republican-held seats in this month's election, they lost just as many. The party also suffered the loss of the Senate and the White House. As House Democrats conduct the leadership elections Tuesday, they're still reeling from the results — and reckoning with the path forward. 

Republicans are expected to have a narrow majority in the next Congress. President-elect Donald Trump's selection of several House members to serve in his administration will also temporarily squeeze the majority even further until those seats are filled in special elections. 

Jeffries, in an interview with NPR last week, said the narrow margins and divisions among House Republicans have effectively made Democrats the majority in several instances. 

"Democrats, because of the closeness of the margins, have effectively governed in the majority, though we are in the minority. And the same dynamic will exist as we move forward," Jeffries said, pointing to a number of votes to avoid government shutdowns over the past two years in which Democrats provided a majority of the votes. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said last week that he has "begged and pleaded" with Trump to stop poaching House members for his administration. 

Republicans held their leadership elections last week, backing Johnson for another term as speaker. Johnson expressed confidence that he will win the speakership in the first round of voting on the House floor in January.