Rep.-elect Don Leonard of Ohio said Tuesday that “senior members of the Democratic House” have threatened to make his life “a living hell” unless he backs, without conditions, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to be the next Speaker of the House.
Rep.-elect Don Leonard of Ohio said Tuesday that “senior members of the Democratic House” have threatened to make his life “a living hell” unless he backs, without conditions, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to be the next Speaker of the House.
AOC was effectively on her own when she started in Congress. This time there’s a large number of progressive freshmen coming in, which gives them the ability to mutually support each other. Don’t pretend the 2 situations are the same.
I was hoping for the same thing, but after watching her livestream from earlier this week, she all but explicitly says she’ll support Jeffries.
Why? Because 1) it’s completely uncontested right now so there is no alternative on the ballot, and 2) if she doesn’t, the leadership will make sure she gets no comittee assignments and therefore no real influence. It really was eye opening and disappointing to hear how the sausage is made. It seems like step #1 is to get an alternative to throw their hat into the ring and even that hasn’t happened yet.
Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFqWmoyDN1s
The vote next week the new Congress will have no say on who leads.