Shadow speaker: Hakeem Jeffries quietly wrests control from Mike Johnson

https://www.axios.com/2024/04/21/hakeem-jeffries-speaker-mike-johnson-israel-ukraine?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=editorial

27 comments

  1. It’s honestly wild how controlled House Democrats have been the past four years, both under Pelosi with a five seat majority, and under Jeffries as a minority that’s governed like a majority.

  4. “Shadow Speaker”. No he’s not. He’s trying to do his job unlike some other people in Congress.

  5. “Democrats got everything they wanted – a[ $95 billion foreign aid bill](https://www.axios.com/2024/04/20/house-foreign-aid-israel-ukraine-taiwan-pass), the credit for passing it, and adversaries more divided than ever…”

    Its like the JV team from high school going up against a group of professional atheltes. The fact that MAGA Republicans are largely inexperienced and ignorant of political maneuvering is costing them dearly, and we see it more and more as the Trumpist takeover of the GOP continues. It’s a bunch of amateurs trying to fake it.

  7. > The bottom line: Johnson “should just pack up and resign and hand the gavel over to Leader Jeffries,” said Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), a leading Progressive Caucus member.

    “The Squad” and any progressive Dem politician used to be painted as far left politicians who other Dems would be able to work with.

    And yet, the Democratic Party is unified as fuck. All the turmoil is on the right. Crazy.

  8. Democrats remember how their lives were threatened on Jan6 and exactly which Republicans were part of the coup. Let’s hope that keeps them united until the last of the Republican traitors are rooted out.

  10. “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of Congress? The Shadow Speaker do!”

  11. I’ve posted many times how we don’t know who the real heroes are that protected the country from Trump. All we hear about is the bad players. And, not just Democrats, but GOP, to had to rein him in. Pence dealt with shit we’ll never know about. They probably all had to take a class on how to redirect someone. And that was easy with Trump. You think he and he alone talked to Snoop Dog? Someone figure out it was a sore spot and bam, there goes Trump on an anti-Snoop Dog tirade. He’s a petulant toddler.

  12. Moscow Marge wondering what the hell happened to her super powers

  15. Having a speaker get support from both parties gives a more moderate speaker, should be the norm, not voting along party lines

  18. ARTICLE TEXT BELOW

    COMMENT: I’m fascinated by this kind of political maneuvering, but despite reading the article, I don’t really get it. If someone familiar with this kind of gamesmanship could enlighten me, I’d be really grateful!

    ——-

    Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) found himself in an unusual position for a minority leader last week: It was he, not the House speaker, who had the ultimate power to decide whether legislation came to the floor.

    Why it matters: Democrats got everything they wanted – a $95 billion foreign aid bill, the credit for passing it, and adversaries more divided than ever. In their telling, that total victory wasn’t a sure thing.
    Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a master legislative tactician, heaped praise on her successor: “He is fabulous. We’re so proud of him.”
    One senior House Democrat told Axios: “It easily could have fallen apart … He played the cards the way you’d want to play them.”
    “I would not want to play blackjack against him,” the lawmaker added.
    What happened: Democrats did something virtually unheard of in modern politics on Thursday, crossing the aisle on the House Rules Committee to save the foreign aid package. They did it again the next day on the House floor.

    This was all Jeffries’ call, as was Democrats’ decision to wait until it was clear House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) didn’t have the votes on his own before saving the package on the floor.
    “We wouldn’t be voting on this right now if it weren’t for Hakeem … He’s the one who created the system that Johnson could follow and get this done,” said a House Democrat.
    Zoom in: Jeffries’ message to his members leading up to the foreign aid fight was to stay unified behind him and not commit themselves to positions on saving Johnson that might box the party in.

    In other words: To give him all the power and maneuverability that Johnson lacks.
    The senior House Democrat told Axios: “If he hadn’t taken the approach he had, he could have had members going rogue.”
    “He gave us so many options,” said Pelosi.
    Between the lines: Democratic leadership had already been forging the unified front that would be Jeffries’ strongest weapon for weeks with a push to get as many signatures as possible on their foreign aid discharge petition.

    Jeffries himself sat down with centrist Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), a skeptic of single-party discharge petitions, to get him to sign. It worked.
    What they’re saying: House Democrats told Axios the foreign aid fight revealed a deftness in Jeffries – both in public and in closed-door negotiations – that makes him well suited for the speakership.

    Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) told Axios: “Hakeem has been very graceful. He’s not purposefully thrown Johnson under the bus … He’s not been triumphant at all, he realizes how bad that would be for Mike Johnson.”
    “It’s a lesson well learned from previous speakers: He finessed it well when he had to,” said Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.).
    What to watch: Many Democrats also told Axios they don’t anticipate Jeffries facing the type of revolts from his left flank that Johnson has seen from his right on the motion to vacate and procedural votes.

    Part of that is his reputation as a coalition builder: “He knows how to engage, uplift and balance all members of his party,” said Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), a member of the progressive “Squad.”
    “Anybody that wants a phone call or a meeting, we’ve had it,” said one Democrat.
    The lawmaker predicted the party will change a rule allowing any member to force a vote on ousting the speaker, but said such a vote “would never happen in our caucus even if that rule existed … he works very closely with [his left flank].”
    The bottom line: Johnson “should just pack up and resign and hand the gavel over to Leader Jeffries,” said Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), a leading Progressive Caucus member.
    “He seems to be able to manage this process in a much more democratic way – in a way that gets bills to the floor.”

  19. It is hilarious that a guy named Hakeem outmaneuvered a bunch of imbecile racists who couldn’t run a frozen banana stand if their life depended on it, much less a branch of government.

  20. Trump won’t win. Biden will get two sets of votes: those for him, and those against Trump

  24. Jeffries didn’t have to do anything. Republicans are self-destructive. It just happens to be Johnson’s turn to deal with his party’s idiot caucus.

  25. The border bill was supposed to be the price for the aid to Ukraine right? Uhh. Gg? Trump flicked a roach on the plate so the Democrats eat for free. 

  26. This is actually how the congress is supposed to work. When there’s a good bill, both sides will vote for it. Trying to shoot down everything the other side does, even if it’s good, just to make them look bad is a relatively new thing. This “ total war” strategy, where the end game is to wait until one side has a strong majority and can do whatever the hell they want is insane, and just not practical. It’s also horrible for the country and the world, because nothing actually gets done. The republican led 118th congress is proving that every day.

  27. The one thing everyone can do, despite all of the media tactics, the fear…the one thing is to Vote and bring at least 1 other person with you to vote as well

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