Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Wants Bipartisan Coalition Governing the House

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) speaks to the press after meeting President Joe Biden and other leaders at the White House in Washington on May 16, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) made the case on Oct. 6 for why there should be a governing coalition in the House of Representatives.

In a Washington Post opinion piece, Mr. Jeffries called for bipartisanship in the aftermath of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) being ousted on Oct. 3 as speaker.

Mr. McCarthy was stripped of the gavel for the first time through a motion to vacate filed by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). In order to win the 15-round speaker’s race in January, Mr. McCarthy made numerous concessions to the hard line conservative Freedom Caucus—which includes Mr. Gaetz—that included lowering the threshold of filing a motion to vacate the chair to just one House member.

“Regrettably, at every turn, House Republicans have categorically rejected making changes to the rules designed to accomplish two objectives: encourage bipartisan governance and undermine the ability of extremists to hold Congress hostage,” wrote Mr. Jeffries in his piece.

Mr. Jeffries called for the House rules to be changed to stop the hardline conservatives in the House GOP caucus from dictating the lower congressional chamber.

“The details would be subject to negotiation, though the principles are no secret: The House should be restructured to promote governance by consensus and facilitate up-or-down votes on bills that have strong bipartisan support,” he wrote.

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“Under the current procedural landscape, a small handful of extreme members on the Rules Committee or in the House Republican conference can prevent common-sense legislation from ever seeing the light of day,” continued Mr. Jeffries. “That must change—perhaps in a manner consistent with bipartisan recommendations from the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.”

Another Run for Speaker

Mr. Jeffries will be running for speaker as he did in January.

In an Oct. 5 letter to House Democrats, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark announced the Democratic caucus will convene for an organizational meeting on Oct. 10 to nominate Mr. Jeffries for speaker.

“The Republican Conference may hold their internal election as early as Wednesday morning. At the conclusion of the Republican Conference nomination election, the full House will conduct an election for Speaker by manual roll call vote,” she continued.

“We do not yet have exact timing for when this vote will start and may have short notice. Your attendance beginning Tuesday evening is vital to ensure that House Democrats are ready to vote for leader Jeffries as soon as the election for Speaker begins.”