As House Republicans tear each other to pieces, House Democrats have told all members that they must be in attendance next week to vote for Hakeem Jeffries to be Speaker.
This is the message that Whip Katherine Clark sent to every Democratic member of the House:
NEW — EMAIL from @WhipKClark
“Each member of our Caucus must be physically present on the Floor for next week’s proceedings. Many of you have made tremendous sacrifices to continue to be in Washington, and these have not gone unnoticed. We understand that the uncertainty of… pic.twitter.com/5lBUWmqcFo
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 5, 2023
The Democrats are sending a message to the nation by being unified behind Hakeem Jeffries in the next Speaker of the House election, while House Republicans are on the verge of physically attacking each other in meetings.
House Democrats are unified, and they are going to stand together with Leader Jeffries as one.
Even though the House is planning on moving forward with their private caucus election next week, there is a great deal of skepticism related to whether there will be any resolution to this situation by next Wednesday.
The impression is that unless House Republicans can unify behind a candidate, the chaos in the House could linger for weeks or even months.
It is unlikely that Jeffries has any chance of being elected the next Speaker of the House, but with the Republican majority being so small, if Republicans have even a few absences, anything is possible.
If the time doesn’t come for Leader Jeffries now, it will likely arrive on Election Day 2024.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association