Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is poised to become the third-most-powerful person in America — and the highest-ranking Democrat in Washington — when 435 representatives vote in January for Speaker of the House. He’s already blowing it.
By now you may have heard Jeffries’ remarks about what he says the American people want from their congressional representatives. He’s getting it wrong.
In little more than 24 hours, this video got 3.6 million views on social media.
“The American people don’t want us to get even,” Jeffries told MS NOW on Wednesday morning, confusing “getting even” with accountability and with preserving and protecting the U.S. Constitution.
Accountability is not retribution.
“You will hear that congressional investigations are witch hunts,” wrote conservative commentator Jay Nordlinger on Thursday. “And they can be. But checks and balances are crucial. Accountability is a must. It’s all in the Federalist Papers and in the Constitution itself. Congress must do its job.”
The American people are making clear they want accountability — far more than Jeffries appears to want to offer. Accountability cannot be just a slogan.
Announcing his candidacy for House Speaker on Wednesday, Jeffries wrote in a “Dear Colleague” letter he will focus on affordability, accountability, and American values.
Accountability for what is the question.
“The days of the House functioning like a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trump Administration are over,” he wrote. “Congress will assume its place as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch.”
Great.
“We must root out corrupt price gouging, clean up the mess at the Supreme Court and ban Members of Congress from trading stocks,” he noted. “Accountability begins at home.”
OK.
But there was no mention of federal immigration agents shooting to death two American citizens, or of those agents detaining more than 500 U.S. citizens. Nothing about turning the Department of Justice into President Donald Trump’s personal revenge machine. Nothing about DOGE cutting countless thousands of federal government workers, including scientists, and gutting USAID, which a Lancet study projects may cause more than 14 million additional deaths overseas by 2030.
Nothing about what critics call illegal, lethal military strikes on boats allegedly smuggling drugs. Nothing about Trump and his administration handing multimillion-dollar no-bid contracts to his cronies. Nothing about turning the Department of Defense into a Christian nationalist entity. Nothing about Jared Kushner, whose private meeting with Jeffries became public in August.
The list is long.
RELATED: Voters Handed Dems 2 Mandates. Jeffries and Schumer Are Picking One
Here’s what Jeffries wrote about Trump:
“The massive corruption the country has experienced from the Trump Cartel explains why very little is getting done to help everyday Americans. That changes immediately. Anyone who is stealing from the American people, ripping off the American people or screwing over the American people can no longer hide. We are going to hold the crooks accountable.”
Fine.
But the list runs longer.
Jeffries suggests accountability and investigations aren’t a primary demand of Democratic voters.
They are.
Retired Air Force Col. Moe Davis, the former chief prosecutor at Guantánamo, wrote on Thursday, “Democrats have to prove that they are capable of doing two things at once and keeping both in balance.”
“First,” he explained, “there has to be accountability for the excesses and abuses of the past two years. And that can’t be the blind retribution and cruelty that Trump has employed; it must be focused and deliberate.” He added: “Accountability needs to be fast, firm, and fair, so Democrats need to get on with it as soon as the 120th Congress is sworn in.”
“At the same time, Democrats have to deliver on the issues that matter to the majority of Americans,” Davis wrote. “That means using the power to conduct oversight hearings and the power of the purse to take actions that will bring down costs.”
He offered a litany of other issues, including “taking action to address wealth and income inequality,” “making affordable healthcare available to all Americans,” “making amends with our allies and tightening the screws on America’s enemies,” and more.
Others are less patient.
Former GOP congressman Joe Walsh, responding Wednesday to Jeffries’ remarks in the video above, wrote: “He just doesn’t get it. It’s not about ‘getting even.’ It’s about accountability. It’s about holding the most corrupt and most lawless administration in American history accountable for all the corrupt, illegal shit they’ve done.”
Attorney and SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah wrote Thursday: “Dear Dem leaders: Exit polls say ‘71% of voters say Congress must do more to check President Trump.’ Dems have a mandate to hold Trump accountable for his corruption & abuse of power. Democrats must do that by swiftly going after Trump & his regime using all tools available!”
Democratic strategist Mike Nellis wrote that there is a “lot of concern in the media today that Democrats are going to overreach after Tuesday’s election results. I don’t recall that being the conversation after Donald Trump narrowly won in 2024.”
“We just won the most consequential midterm election since 1974,” he added, “and Democrats should fucking act like it.”
Jeffries needs to take stock of this moment in American history. He is poised to become the nation’s first Black Speaker of the House, thanks to a record turnout of more than 124 million midterm voters. Young voters, Latino voters, suburban voters, and independents pulled the lever for Democrats. Seven in 10 told exit pollsters Congress isn’t doing enough to check this president. They didn’t turn out for affordability alone. They turned out to stop Trump, Trumpism, and MAGA, and they expect their next Speaker to do the job.
It’s time for Jeffries to read the room.
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