Hakeem Jeffries was ready to take questions, but first he had his own inquiry. What was up with that huge microphone this one guy was holding?
Amid some laughter, the reporter quoted Yoda: “size matters not.” Pause.
“I’m going to refrain from commenting on that,” Jeffries finally responded.
The exchange in late March was one sign of a looser, and seemingly more comfortable House Democratic leader emerging in public appearances as activists and some fellow Democrats urge party officials to more creatively, powerfully, and authentically confront President Donald Trump.
Jeffries, at least rhetorically, has obliged. Sometimes on-message to the point of being stiff, a natural conciliator rather than a brawler, and deferential to seniority — including in his first term as Democratic leader to a fellow Brooklynite, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) — Jeffries in recent weeks has increased his visibility and aggression while adding some of the swagger you might expect from a proud New Yorker.
“The flood the zone strategy is designed to disorient people. I ain’t going to be disoriented,” Jeffries swung in early March. The strategy “is designed to create the appearance of inevitability, the notion that Donald Trump is unstoppable. He ain’t unstoppable.”
“This is not liberation day,” he said, mocking Trump’s sweeping tariffs. “It’s recession day.”
“He apparently likes losing in court, ‘cause he’ll lose again,” Jeffries said when Trump tried to eliminate the Department of Education.
When Republicans blasted funding for PBS and NPR Jeffries quipped, “the decision to attack Big Bird and the Cookie Monster, I mean, it’s just a strange thing.”
This week he publicly challenged Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to a one-on-one debate over planned GOP tax cuts.
The sharper tone comes as Jeffries, in just his third year as head of the House Democrats, grapples with the most aggressive presidency in memory and a challenge like few in his position have ever faced.
He doesn’t have the star power of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) or Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J). Neither he nor anyone else is likely to match the aura of power that made former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) a singular pillar. But within Congress, he’s one of the party’s two official leaders — and the one closest to gaining real power. The party’s best, fastest chance to win a foothold in Washington is by flipping the House in 2026, potentially making Jeffries speaker.
Those election results, far more than sharp quips, will determine whether he succeeds or fails.
Early this year, he faced internal questions about whether he had the approach to get it done. Pelosi was among those calling for more force after Democrats fumbled a March funding fight, while outside Washington furious activists raised doubts over whether party leaders had the fight or disruptive tactics to meet the moment.
Neither come naturally for Jeffries. When I wrote about his first term as Democratic leader, the most common way members of both parties described him was as a calm, controlled “listener” skilled at bridging divides between parts of his conference.
Even then some Democrats worried Jeffries wasn’t assertive enough. “We need a little more punching,” the late Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) told me in 2023.
“He’s comfortable being thoughtful and measured and calm,” Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.), a longtime ally who served with Jeffries in the New York state legislature, told me this week.
That might have worked when Democrats held the White House and Senate and could drive the public agenda. But now they’re in the opposition, with little formal power.
“Hakeem has always had this ability to be an amazing communicator,” Morelle said. “He is probably just learning more about the appropriate way to communicate in this environment that has no parallel in American history.”
Several Jeffries’ allies told me they don’t see anything new or different.
Instead, Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), said Democrats have more broadly found their footing — starting with special election victories and Booker’s record-breaking Senate speech.
“There’s a sense that there’s blood in the water,” Ivey said.
On Thursday, in at least his third press conference of the week, Jeffries said he’d have an active schedule both in his district and around the country during an upcoming recess.
“It’s going to be important for all of us,” Jeffries said, including other Democrats, “to meet the moment.”
As a big Yankees fan, Jeffries likes to say Democrats can’t swing at every pitch. When he does take a cut, though, he’s swinging bigger.
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