House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has little sympathy for his fractious Republican colleagues. “It’s the majority party’s responsibility to elect the speaker with 218 votes and then to be able to sustain it,” he told reporters Thursday. “Why is that so complicated?”
He also talked about how high the stakes are right now. “It’s time for the GOP to end the House Republican civil war, get their act together, so that we can take care of the business that the American people stand strongly for,” he said. That includes supporting “our allies throughout the world, including Israel and Ukrainian people.”
The Democrats are staying out of this fight, but Jeffries is still offering an open door to Republicans who are tired of the chaos. “House Democrats have continued to make clear that we are ready, willing and able to find a bipartisan path forward,” he said.
“It means partnering to reopen the House,” Jeffries added, “and changing the rules that were enacted in January that empower … extreme members.”
You’d think that message would resonate with the self-described moderates in the GOP, all those who have been complaining so bitterly about the extremists who kicked out former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. So far, they’re happy to flail along with the rest of their colleagues.
While Jeffries was extending an offer of sanity, other Democrats have been having some fun at the GOP’s expense. Here’s the chair of the Democratic National Committee, Jaime Harrison, dunking on Republicans’ inability to get behind Steve Scalise for speaker.
The prospects for Speaker Hakeem Jeffries in 2025 look better by the minute.
Sign if you agree: No more MAGA circus. Hakeem Jeffries for speaker.
