Democrats in the US House have been watching the Republican’s Civil War go on for months….
This week when it became the time to actually DO SOMETHING to get a major piece of legislation passed?
They supported their House Hakeem Jeffries, who did a bit of Nanacy Pelosi in waiting to the right time to help House Speaker Republican Mike Johnson ‘Do the Right Thing’ , and get the 2024 Foreign Aid bills in place, for a vote that Jeffries got Democrats to support , which iced out Republican RightWingNuts, who Donald Trump thought where enabling HIM to run the Congress…
He Wasn’t….
Neither was the Wing Nuts….
The idea that Jeffries runs the place is nice…
But NOT true…
Republicans STILL hold a slight majority and Johnson IS in charge…
But?
With just a few more GOP House members bailing or the right November votes?
NY Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries COULD get the Speakers gavel…
A lawmaker from Crown Heights, Queens, NYC….
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 clearHouse 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.”
image…House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y……AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite