Politico: ‘What Obama had, he has that’: Jeffries’ stock rises as Pelosi successor
By Heather Caygle, Rachael Bade, and John Breshnahan | 12/28/2018
Within minutes of Hakeem Jeffries winning a contentious House leadership battle, his supporters were already crowing that the New York Democrat was one day destined to wield the speaker’s gavel.
“What [Barack] Obama had, he has that. I call it lightning in a bottle,” said Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), who stumped for Jeffries ahead of the November party election. “I do think he’s somebody that could, with a few breaks, become our speaker and also our president. He has that talent.”
More than a few Democrats see Jeffries’ youth and Brooklyn swagger — he’s been known to quote rapper Biggie Smalls on the House floor — as the antidote for a caucus long ruled by a pack of old-school septuagenarians.
The bill that wouldn’t die: The unlikely story behind the criminal justice overhaul
by Jeremy Diamond and Alex Rogers, CNN | 12.21.18
A Democratic blockade
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries didn’t want to be seen at the White House.
The New York Democrat represents parts of Brooklyn, one of the most anti-Trump districts in the country, and he was wary about the message his presence at the White House would send. So in the spring, when Kushner asked Jeffries to meet him at his office in the West Wing, he and Rep. Cedric Richmond, the Louisiana Democrat who’s the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, refused. Instead, on March 22, Kushner came to them on Capitol Hill for breakfast. Jeffries, who had been working with Richmond on overhauling the criminal justice system for years, saw it as an early sign that Kushner was serious about the issue.
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“It’s clear that some elements on the hard-left unleashed everything, including the kitchen sink, to try to stop the criminal justice reform effort in the House based on the worldview of all or nothing,” Jeffries told CNN. “In the House, we took the position that in order to break the back of the prison industrial complex we needed to begin with a significant, robust bipartisan effort around prison reform that could lay the foundation to get something done.”
Washington Post: Many Democrats want their leadership to look more like their voters. Is Hakeem Jeffries the answer?
by Eugene Scott | 11. 29. 18
But a big selling point for Jeffries is that he brings many of the qualities — ethnic diversity, new ideas and relative youth — that those hungry for a clear successor to Pelosi are seeking.
Jeffries was born in Brooklyn and worked in corporate law for CBS and Viacom before being elected to the New York State Assembly. In the House, he represents a New York district that includes Brooklyn and Queens.
As chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Jeffries will be fulfilling a dream of black lawmakers who came before him who eventually hoped to see more of their own among the top leadership.
New York Time: Hakeem Jeffries Emerges as New Face of House Democrats
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg | Nov. 28, 2018
Mr. Jeffries, a 48-year-old Brooklynite with a golden tongue, was elected by his fellow Democrats on Wednesday to the relatively obscure position of chairman of the House Democratic caucus. It is the No. 5 leadership spot, but Mr. Jeffries is now on the fast track, with the potential to make history as the first black speaker of the House.
“Hakeem represents the leading edge of a new wave of Democrats,” said Steve Israel, the former New York congressman and onetime chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “I think he tapped into a sense in the caucus that the next generation of leaders needs to begin crystallizing.”
Politico: Bipartisan odd couple racks up wins at House Judiciary
By Heather Caygle 06/05/2018
After the House passed its bipartisan prison reform bill late last month, GOP Rep. Doug Collins and Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries quickly met on the floor for a celebratory embrace.
Months of late-night calls, lobbying and tough negotiations had led to a whopping 360-59 vote — and the third piece of legislation Jeffries and Collins have ushered through the House together in a matter of months.
Official Endorsements
Human Rights Campaign
New York League of Conservation Voters
Congressman Jeffries Addresses the Democratic National Convention to Support Hillary Clinton
July 27, 2016
“This November, America faces a clear choice between the most qualified nominee ever to seek the presidency and the least qualified nominee ever to seek the presidency. It’s choice between a Commander-in-Chief and a Bankrupter-in-Chief. It’s a choice between the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Hate. Donald Trump is a bounced check, but Hillary Clinton is money in the bank.”
New York Times: Cheesecake and Turnstiles: Hillary Clinton’s New York Weekend
By Amy Chozick | April 10, 2016
There was no animosity on Saturday when Mrs. Clinton, accompanied by State Assemblyman Walter T. Mosley; Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York; and New York City Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo, shook hands with mostly black New Yorkers at Junior’s, the iconic cheesecake hub on Flatbush Avenue in downtown Brooklyn.
MSNBC Rep. Jeffries on why he supports Clinton
April 1, 2016
New Yorker: Will music streaming kill songwriting?
By John Seabrook | February 8, 2016
There are already a few legislative initiatives under way, nationally—among them the Songwriter Equity Act, a bill first introduced by Doug Collins, a Republican from Georgia, and Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, and then in the Senate by, among others, Orrin Hatch, who is himself a prolific songwriter. (Copyright issues make for strange political bedfellows.) It would amend two sections of the Copyright Act of 1976, to raise the rate songwriters get from streaming services.
