(Presidentialwire.com)- There’s going to be a lot of change at the top for Democrats in the House in Congress’ next term.
It seems as if the current House leadership wants no part of being the minority party in the House.
After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she would not be seeking a leadership position in the Democratic caucus, two others followed suit. Steny Hoyer, the current House Majority Leader, announced last week that he wouldn’t seek another leadership position.
Then came yet another announcement, this time from Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn, who said he would be stepping down from a leadership position as well.
All three of these moves will certainly shake up the Democratic leadership in the House, and hand the torch from an elder group of leaders to a more youthful one. Pelosi and Clyburn are each 82 years old, while Hoyer is 83.
This will likely lead to an open path for New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries, who serves as the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, to complete a huge jump in rank to lead Democrats in the lower chamber.
Jeffries, who is 52 years old, has the full backing of the Congressional Black Caucus. Representative Joyce Beatty, who heads the group, said late last week that all the members were going to unanimously vote for Jeffries — one of their members — over other potential challengers.
In making his announcement, Clyburn said he was looking forward to helping “our new generation of Democratic Leaders.” He then named Jeffries, Massachusetts Representative Katherine Clark and California Representative Pete Aguilar in his announcement, as all three of those members are likely to hold the top three spots in the Democratic Party.
Sources that spoke with media outlet The Hill said they believed Clyburn wants to stay involved in leadership in some way, hoping to serve as the assistant leader. If he does win that role, he would be the number four-ranked Democrat in the House.
That spot used to be the third-ranking position, but likely would drop to number four behind chair of the Caucus. If that were to happen, those sources said Aguilar would likely try to be the Caucus chair rather than assistant leader.
Aguilar is 43 years old, and Clark is 59 years old.
In his statement announcing that he was stepping back from Democratic leadership, Clyburn said:
“Speaker Pelosi has left an indelible mark on Congress and the country, and I look forward to her continued service and doing whatever I can to assist our new generation of Democratic Leaders which I hope to be Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar.”
Hoyer, who was the second-ranking Democrat in the House since back in 2003, wants to return back to the Appropriations Committee, which he served on before entering House leadership.
In making his announcement, Hoyer wrote:
“I also look forward to continuing my focus on voting rights, civil rights and human rights, which I have made priorities throughout my public life.”
