Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is a top contender to be the next House Democratic leader after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced Thursday she will step down from her leadership role.
Jeffries took office in 2013 and is the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, a leadership position he took on in 2019. Pelosi has headed her party’s House leadership since 2003.
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Jeffries, 52, is the youngest member of the House Democratic leadership. Pelosi, 82, leads the party in the current Congress along with 83-year-old Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., 82-year-old Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., and 59-year-old Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass. Clyburn said he intends to stay in leadership but will not pursue the top position.
Jeffries is a member of the House Judiciary Committee and House Budget Committee, and first worked as a corporate lawyer after he graduated from New York University School of Law. He was one of seven House managers in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump in January 2020.
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Jeffries was the lead sponsor for the bipartisan First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill aimed at reducing the federal prison population that was signed by Trump in 2018.
