House Democrats Will Elect A New Generation Of Leaders Wednesday

WASHINGTON - House Democrats will choose a new leadership team Wednesday morning, ushering in a new generation of leaders after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer decided to resign after Democrats lost their majority earlier this month.

Pelosi, 82, of California, the first female speaker of the House of Representatives, will pass the torch to Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who will make history as the first black lawmaker to run unopposed for minority leader and lead a caucus. in both chambers. .

"This is a time of transition," Jeffries told a small group of reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday night. "We are on the backs of giants, but now we also hope to do what is necessary to get things going."

Jeffries' primary challenger will be Katherine Clark, 59, a Massachusetts progressive who served as vice chair of the Democratic caucus under Jeffries and won the vice presidency this Congress. He is running undecided for the minority seat, the party's main vote counter.

Rounding out the trio of new candidates is California Rep. Pete Aguilar, 43, a Hispanic member of Congress and former mayor who is running unopposed for the Democratic House Speaker, a position Jeffries has held steady for the past four years.

Representative Hakeem Jeffries has announced his candidacy to replace Nancy Pelosi

FAR AWAY

The elections of Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar represent a changing of the guard for House Democrats, who have seen a powerful triumvirate of Pelosi, Hoyer, Md., 83, and Jim Clyburn, Md., 82, in leadership positions. in the last two decades.

In recent years, ambitious and talented young Democrats seeking to rise to leadership positions have found that this is the only way out.

Democratic leader Xavier Becerra was named California attorney general, and then President Joe Biden was named Secretary of Health and Human Services. Two of Pelosi's loyal lieutenants, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, successfully ran for Senate seats as their options expired.

Others, including Steve Israel of New York, who ran the House Democrats' campaign and communications department, have decided to retire.

Of the current "big three" Democrats, only Clyburn, the representative of the current majority, has chosen to remain president of the new Congress. He will fill the position of assistant director, which historically has been considered the 3rd position of the minority, but he will move to the 4th position of this Congress.

Clyburn's decision to stay disappointed some new members who had hoped to start a new Congress. Because of Clyburn's support from the Congressional Black Caucus and other allies, that means one of the youngest members of the legislature will not be able to advance to the fourth.

But Pelosi has often emphasized that power is not given for free, it has to be "earned". And no one on the team challenged Clyburn.

Both Pelosi and Hoyer won't go far. Instead of resigning, they said they would stay in Congress. And on Tuesday night, the House Democratic Policy and Governance Committee voted unanimously to award Pelosi the title of speaker emeritus. Jeffries offered a resolution in Pelosi's honor.

"Speaker Nancy Pelosi will go down in history as one of the greatest legislative leaders in American history," said board chairmen Eric Swallell, Barbara Lee and Cheri Bustas. "In bestowing this honor on Speaker Pelosi, we are proud to recognize his legendary public service that broke the marble ceiling."

Asked how his leadership style might differ from Pelosi's, a certain lawmaker who sometimes ruled her faction with an iron fist, Jeffries seemed to agree with the group's stance.

"The House Democratic Caucus is at its best when everyone has a chance to be on the field and play their part," he said.

Jeffries dodged several questions about what it means to be the first black person to lead a party in Congress.

"I didn't have a chance to think about it," he said, then added, "If I could spend time on external narratives or the magnitude of the moment, it would take away the need to make real-time decisions. Get ready. for that." He expected a new congress."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com