Current Affairs

⭕️ It would take just ~43 House Democrats to keep Hakeem Jeffries from becoming speaker. The Congressional Progressive Caucus alone expects more than 100 members in January. 🔹Its chair, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), co-sponsored Rep. Rashida Tlaib's November 2025 resolution "recognizing the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza." Now he says he expects to "deliver the votes" for Jeffries. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), another co-sponsor, told MS NOW on Monday that Jeffries will have the caucus's unanimous support, calling his expected rise a "pretty historic moment." In all, 22 House Democrats backed the genocide resolution and well over 40 have described Israel’s actions as genocide. 🔹Jeffries has been one of the strongest supporters of Israel’s military response in Gaza. He opposed a July bid to cut off US military aid to Israel, saying it would "restrict our country's ability to confront Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations in the region." His promised "reset" wouldn't touch aid until the current 10-year deal expires in 2028. 🔹The math: Speaker needs 218 votes cast for a person by name on Jan 3, 2027. With roughly 260 Democrats, if 43 commit to naming someone else and every Republican votes against Jeffries, he falls short. 🔹It's been done before. In January 2023, about 20 Republicans withheld their votes from Rep. Kevin McCarthy through 15 rounds of voting. He won only after major concessions, including a rule letting any single member force a vote to remove the speaker, which Rep. Matt Gaetz used to oust him nine months later. 🔗 Drop Site's Julian Andreone asked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), another co-sponsor of the genocide resolution who backs Jeffries, whether progressives could use that kind of leverage.

Katherine Clark is the Democratic Whip in the House, and it is thus her responsibility to ensure members are there to vote. Clark is also a founding member of EDW, which hosted an event tonight from 4:30pm to 6:30pm, overlapping with the 5:30pm vote on the Hegseth impeachment. Of the 11 members who missed the Hegseth vote, 8 have received support from EDW or its AIPAC-tied super PAC EDW Action. Of those 8, two are sitting board members.