Hakeem Jeffries succeeds Nancy Pelosi and becomes the first black leader of a party in Congress

Page turns. His peers nominated Democratic-elect Hakeem Jeffries on Wednesday To succeed Nancy Pelosi He leads his party in the US House of Representatives. He became the first African American to hold such responsibilities in the United States Congress.

The 52-year-old elected official, who has held positions of responsibility on the Democratic staff since 2019, expressed his “great pride” in being appointed to the position, after a vote behind closed doors.

The election of Hakeem Jeffries marks an important generational change in the US Congress: the elected New Yorker is 30 years younger than Nancy Pelosi, Speaker (“Speaker”) of the House of Representatives. “This new generation of leaders reflects the dynamism and diversity of our great nation,” she praised.

Paralysis on the horizon

Nancy Pelosi announced in mid-November that she would step down as leader of the Democrats in the next House of Representatives. Two decades later. She will continue to sit in the House of Representatives, as a representative elected from California.

As leader of the Democrats, Hakeem Jeffries will navigate the House of Representatives in January where his party will not have a majority. Republicans won control of that chamber in the November midterm elections.

Although their majority will be smaller than expected, the Republicans will have significant inspection power, which they promise to use on a range of investigations into President Biden’s handling of the pandemic or the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

However, Joe Biden’s camp has been keen to maintain control of the Senate. Now, after being denied the Congress that was entirely his for two years, the Democratic president’s party will not be able to vote on major projects. But the other side doesn’t either.