Shutdown brings new spotlight for House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

WASHINGTON — To listen to Republicans, the stalemate that has closed much of the federal government is the "Schumer shutdown," as they seek to pin blame mostly on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for Democrats' blocking a bill to end the closure.

But in this political combat, fellow Brooklynite and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has become Schumer’s aggressive wingman, providing daily and more-dynamic counterattacks, and keeping the focus on health care.

While Jeffries remains little-known by much of the public, some House Democrats privately suggest that the shutdown has provided him a stage on which to more fully emerge from the shadow of his predecessor as party leader, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Jeffries, 55, has been constantly confronting Republicans over the shutdown, via daily news conferences and more direct run-ins.

"I think that it’s important," he said, "that the American people are seeing clearly that House and Senate Democrats are standing up for the American people on issues that matter to their quality of life, like the high cost of living, and health care."

The shutdown is also serving as a backdrop to address other challenges Jeffries himself faces, explained New York political consultant Hank Sheinkopf.

Those include whether Jeffries can heal a Democratic Party fracture over embracing democratic-socialist New York Mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, or even himself survive a potential democratic socialist challenge at home in a district where they have strength.

And, ultimately, the big question is whether Jeffries can lead House Democrats in November 2026 to the majority. If so, he will become the nation's first Black speaker — something he rarely talks about. If not, he could be in danger of falling victim to another shift in party leadership.

"Jeffries’ voice needs to be the loudest for him to continue," Sheinkopf said. "And at the moment, it is."

Growing up in Brooklyn

Much of the country is still just getting to know Jeffries. A Pew Research Center poll released on Sept. 30, the day before the shutdown, showed 45% of Americans surveyed nationally said they had never heard of him.

On the stump, Jeffries talks about how he and his younger brother grew up in the working class Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights, and both parents were public employees.

Central Brooklyn was an important urban center for Black political empowerment. It also was a cradle of the hip-hop musical culture, a lifelong passion for Jeffries, who uses his knowledge of hip-hop lyrics to relate with audiences, even on the House floor. But Jeffries also notes of the 1970s and 80s, "It was very difficult coming of age in the middle of a crack cocaine epidemic."

His family received "spiritual nourishment," he says, at the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Bedford Stuyvesant, where he first began to encounter community leaders. To this day, Jeffries has a goal of attending two church services every Sunday, those close to him say, sometimes a conflict with Sunday news show appearances.

After college, where he met his wife; law school; and a clerkship with a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, Jeffries had a stint as a successful litigator. But driven to community service, he moved to politics, first serving as a state lawmaker, then winning congressional seat in 2012.

In Washington, Jeffries rose the party's ranks and by November 2022 was elected by colleagues the new top House Democrat — the first Black leader of a congressional caucus. It was part of a generational shift of the party's mantle away from Pelosi and her longtime lieutenants, after a midterm election in which Democrats lost the House majority.

Aggressive tone

Jeffries certainly has been raising the temperature in this shutdown fight, if not his profile, with almost daily press conferences and other public appearances.

With his distinctive rhythmic cadence and the energetic hand motions of a litigator making his case — which he once was — Jeffries’ tone has at times been humorously snarky and caustic, or outright angry. On Wednesday, during a news conference, he accused President Donald Trump of "behaving like an organized crime boss."

Jeffries on social media can also be direct and disarming, including slinging pop subculture slang to suggest overaggressiveness by foes.

"Not happening Bro," was one recent Jeffries dismissive reply to Vice President JD Vance in a social media exchange on X. Jeffries went on to underscore no surrender to "the Republican effort to gut health care," as a response to a Vance post seeking to defend Trump’s deepfake videos made to look like Jeffries was wearing a sombrero, which Jeffries had called "racist."

More directly, Jeffries warned Rep. Mike Lawler (R-Pearl River) face-to-face, "Don't come at me and keep your mouth shut," during a heated public confrontation at the U.S. Capitol over the ongoing shutdown impasse.

For some on the other side of the political aisle, Jeffries’ actions are opaquely self-serving. "Hakeem Jeffries has spent more time raising his own profile than working to reopen the federal government," said Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport).

Recent death threat

The growing conflicts have suggested that a lack of even professional cordiality exists with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), including after Jeffries’ life allegedly was threatened.

When asked, Jeffries said Thursday he’d still not heard directly from Johnson regarding the alleged death threat against him and the arrest of a suspect. A Johnson spokesman responded by saying the speaker did publicly denounce that alleged threat, on Tuesday, by a man whom Trump had pardoned of previous crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Where this lands Jeffries in terms of a national standing is uncertain.

Jeffries, like the other leaders of both parties in the House and Senate, is viewed more unfavorably than favorably, the Pew poll shows. Aside from the 45% of Americans who say they've never heard of him, Jeffries is reported as viewed unfavorably by 30% of those surveyed, and favorably by 24%. By comparison, Johnson's unfavorable/favorable numbers are 38% and 25%.

But non-partisan analysts and former members of Congress say there is a lot more in the balance right now for Jeffries than how he is seen in national polling.

As with Schumer's challenges in the Senate, some say what matters is that Jeffries is responding in a big way to his party’s more dissatisfied younger base — inside the House Democratic caucus and beyond.

Former Long Island Democratic congressman Steve Israel adds, "Hakeem Jeffries has multiple constituencies: his district; the Democratic Caucus; and Democratic donors and activists across the country."

Seeking House majority

But the most important are the Democratic candidates trying to win competitive districts necessary for the party to claim the majority in Congress, he said.

"He's done a decent job of framing the shutdown as a referendum on health care," said Joshua Huder, a congressional expert at Georgetown’s University’s Government Affairs Institute. He added, Jeffries "has done enough to stave off rebellion in his ranks from my point of view."

"That said, the midterms will be a far bigger test and have greater bearing on his position," Huder added.

For now, Jeffries’ strategy in linking the shutdown fight to protecting Americans from skyrocketing insurance premiums has satisfied his various constituencies, agreed Israel. "He’s also demonstrated to President Trump himself that he knows how to get into the ring and throw some pretty effective punches."

"Members of his caucus will remember how he handled this shutdown, when he seeks their support in the future," Israel said.