House Democrats' Jeffries-skeptic caucus isn't done growing

According to Axios, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is facing a growing bloc of Democratic skeptics who won't commit to backing him for speaker if the party wins the majority. Recent primaries have elevated several Democratic Socialists of America members — including winners in New York and New Jersey — who are withholding their support, and one Colorado nominee who unseated a sitting Democrat says she won't vote for any leader who takes corporate PAC money. Still, most Democrats expect Jeffries to secure the gavel anyway, noting there's no clear alternative and pointing out that Nancy Pelosi weathered similar resistance in twenty eighteen. Jeffries has projected confidence, telling reporters he's been the party's nominee for speaker twenty times and hasn't yet lost a single Democratic vote. Even some earlier critics have come around. But the skeptics signal they won't make his tenure easy, and Axios reports that upcoming primaries in Michigan and Missouri could swell their ranks further.

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