Democratic lawmakers in the House are blaming Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) for their party’s steep election losses, suggesting the defeat “would never have happened” under former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), Axios reported.
“I have a feeling people would say this would never have happened under” Pelosi, a House progressive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Axios. The lawmaker added that some of their colleagues blamed Jeffries for not forcing President Joe Biden to end his reelection bid sooner.
“It’s sad that Pelosi still has to do this work,” the progressive said, acknowledging that the former speaker played a significant role in pushing Biden out of the race. Pelosi herself blamed the octogenarian president for not leaving the race sooner.
Democrats have been pointing fingers within their party since Republicans flipped the White House and Senate and are poised to maintain their House majority.
On Wednesday, Jeffries took responsibility for his party’s losses in a private meeting with his caucus, Axios reported. “The buck stops with me,” he said, conceding that Democrats are not likely to flip the House.
Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.) said Jeffries is “going to hear from a lot of us across the caucus that we have to be willing to take on” progressive policy fights.
“The extent to which he engages with a real process with all wings of the party … he’s got to be open to that and willing to look at changing some of the longstanding practices that have led us to this place,” she added.
Jeffries isn’t the only House leader to face backlash for the Democrats’ stunning loss, as lawmakers are also taking aim at Minority Whip Katherine Clark for the party’s messaging on transgender issues, Politico reported.
Several moderates argued that House leaders should not have whipped against GOP efforts to ban transgender men from women’s sports programs. They also said leadership should have delivered better reasoning to voters in purple districts on why the party fought those ideas.
“A left-winger from Massachusetts shouldn’t be whip,” one swing-district Democrat said of Clark.
