Nancy Pelosi Expected to Step Down as Speaker after ’22 Midterms, Hakeem Jeffries May be Favored to Takeover as Party Leader

Nancy Pelosi may be stepping down as Speaker of the House after this year’s midterm elections, according to various reports. Democrats are looking at who could fill her shoes, currently, it looks like Hakeem Jeffries (NY) is favored according to an article by the Post. Adam Schiff (CA) and Steny Hoyer (MD) have also expressed interest in the position.

Jeffries who is Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus gained favor within the Democrat party for his role in the impeachments of former President Donald Trump. One fan of Jeffires’, Phil Quin shared a video of Jeffries from impeachment hearings from early 2020 captioned, “Hakeem Jeffries is often spoken about as a Future Speaker of the House. If you saw him today during the #ImpeachmentHearings, you’ll know why.”

Hakeem Jeffries is often spoken about as a Future Speaker of the House. If you saw him today during the #ImpeachmentHearings, you'll know why. https://t.co/khnVhizyJN

— Phil Quin (@philquin) January 22, 2020

For the past 20 years, the leadership positions of the House Democrats have circled between Pelosi, Hoyer, and Jim Clyburn (SC). The more progressive side of the House Democrats wants someone who will take them seriously and help them get their ideas to the floor and through the House.

Pelosi has made efforts to appease the progressives and tried to keep the House Democrats generally unified. This was done in part by her agreement in 2018, that she would agree to limit her term as Speaker to 4 years. This helped her gain the support of those initially resistant to her leadership.

With that agreement in mind, Pelosi should be stepping down as speaker after the midterms, and opening the door for new leadership, someone who will help define the Democrat party’s future. In the article by the Post they interviewed many House Democrats, Jeffires seemed to be favored for taking over Pelosi’s position.

Jeffires is younger than Hoyer and Clayburn the other two Democrats who currently hold leadership positions within the House Democrats, both of whom are in their 80s. Hoyer has expressed an interest in Pelosi’s position as well as Adam Schiff (CA), both of them are white.

If Jeffires became Speaker of the House, he would be the first black person in U.S. history to lead a chamber of Congress. The idea of that type of ‘progress’ is enticing to many progressives who want to see more minorities in positions of leadership. Pelosi was the first female Speaker of the House and it would be somewhat of a progressive trend for Democrats if they can continue with another first for the position.

One lawmaker who supports the Jeffries ascension told the Post, “He’s brilliant, he’s smooth, but he is fearless. I mean, if we are fighting for something, I want Hakeem Jeffries on my side because he will go to the mat on an issue.”

Pelosi confirmed in November that she intends to stick by the limits she agreed to in 2018 saying, “What I said then is whether it passes or not, I will abide by those limits that are there.”

There is still quite a lot of time between now and the midterm elections and currently, projections are showing the Democrats are poised to lose control of the House. When the time comes will Pelosi step down from her leadership position? who will still be around to fill her shoes if she does?