Auctoritas

Under Hakeem Jeffries, the minority party has kept GOP leaders on the back foot since September.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Thursday that Democrats are expecting the Trump administration to release the full files on Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, as required by law. "Based on my conversations with some of the top Democrats who've been working on this matter related to the full and complete disclosure of the Epstein...

<p>House Democrats responded with swift fury on Thursday after the Kennedy Center board <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/18/kennedy-center-trump-name" target="_blank">purportedly voted unanimously</a> to rename the performing arts center to the "Trump-Kennedy Center."</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>Democrats argue the name change can't be done without an act of Congress, and they're vowing to fight back in any way they can.</p><hr /><ul><li>House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters: "The Kennedy Center Board has no authority to actually rename the Kennedy Center in the absence of legislative action, and we're going to make that clear."</li><li>"It's a disgrace," added Jeffries, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board. "It's an embarrassment."</li></ul><p><strong>Driving the news: </strong>White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote Thursday afternoon in a <a href="https://x.com/PressSec/status/2001717032191168839?s=20" target="_blank">post on X</a> that the board "just voted unanimously to rename the Kennedy Center to the Trump-Kennedy Center."</p><ul><li>The renaming, she claimed, was "because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building."</li><li>The name "John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts" is <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/20/76i" target="_blank">written into the law</a> that authorized the creation of the venue.</li></ul><p><strong>What happened: </strong>Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), another ex-officio member of the board, tried unsuccessfully to speak out against the move during the virtual meeting at which the vote took place, she told Axios.</p><ul><li>"All of a sudden, when they heard me expressing opposition to it, I was no longer able to speak," she said. "I was cut off and received a screen that said I could not unmute myself ... I had questions, concerns."</li><li>"Certainly, this was not a unanimous vote."</li><li>Jeffries and Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), House Democrats' third ex-officio member, told Axios they were not present for the meeting.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>"Like most things Trump does, they are temporary or not real. Same goes for this one," Larsen told Axios.</p><ul><li>"Congress named the Kennedy Center to honor the slain President. ... Nothing Trump does will change it. And if he defaces the place with his name, we will spackle it over," Larsen added.</li><li>Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), who leads Democrats on a panel that oversees the center's finances, told reporters, "It is our living monument to JFK. We didn't build him another big statue on the mall."</li></ul><p><strong>What to watch: </strong>Pingree said Democrats are "looking for any kind of legal action we could take" and have "been in touch with as many people as we can."</p><ul><li>She said Democrats are also organizing a letter "immediately" to "try to let them know how upset we are about this."</li><li>Jeffries, however, signaled that fighting the name change will not be a high priority for Democrats, telling Axios his party is "fighting hard to make sure that we restore the Affordable Care Act tax credits."</li></ul>

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Thursday signaled it is illegal for the Trump administration to rename the Kennedy Center without “legislative action.” “The Kennedy Center Board has no authority to actually rename the Kennedy Center in the absence of legislative action,” Jeffries told reporters. The creation of the Kennedy Center is outlined in...

The top Democrats in Congress took a swing at President Trump's address from the White House late Wednesday, calling the speech "untethered from reality and truth." “It was an unhinged speech that was, of course, untethered from reality and truth. You know, Donald Trump has made things worse for the American people,” House Minority Leader Hakeem...

<p>House Republican leaders on Wednesday withstood a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/17/mike-johnson-moderate-republicans-fitzpatrick-health-care-aca" target="_blank">standoff with renegade members</a> over expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies and passed a GOP health care bill with conservative priorities that wouldn't renew the aid.</p><p><strong>Why it matters</strong>: The 216-211 vote all but assures that out-of-pocket premiums will more than double on average for roughly 20 million <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/18/hakeem-jeffries-mike-johnson-republicans-aca" target="_blank">ACA</a> enrollees when the enhanced subsidies expire Jan. 1.</p><hr /><p><strong>Driving the news</strong>: The House bill contains an assortment of GOP-backed measures that Republicans argue will help lower health care costs for a wider swath of Americans than those in the ACA exchanges. </p><ul><li>It would expand association health plans, which allow small businesses to band together and purchase coverage, impose new transparency requirements on pharmacy benefit managers aimed at lowering drug costs, and fund ACA payments known as cost-sharing reductions. </li><li>The Senate, which gridlocked on an ACA subsidy extension and competing GOP plan, isn't expected to take up the House package. But some of the ideas could resurface in late January, when Congress faces another deadline to keep the government funded. </li></ul><p><strong>The intrigue</strong>: A group of House GOP moderates on Tuesday night pushed hard to include an amendment extending the ACA subsidies for at least a year but were rebuffed by House leaders over concerns about the cost.</p><ul><li>Four GOP moderates on Wednesday morning then signed onto to a Democratic discharge petition, providing enough votes to bring up a clean three-year extension. </li><li>That vote may not happen until the new year, despite Democratic calls for immediate action. </li></ul><p><strong>By the numbers</strong>: The GOP bill would increase the uninsured population by 100,000 and save the government $35.6 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. </p><ul><li>The driver is the cost sharing reduction payments to health insurers, which will have the effect of lowering the benchmark ACA insurance premium 11% but also cut the subsidies that some ACA enrollees receive. </li><li>The lower subsidy amounts will cause some<strong> </strong>enrollees to go without coverage, CBO projects.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying</strong>: GOP leaders have argued that extending the enhanced ACA subsidies would be wasteful spending that benefits insurance companies. </p><ul><li>Speaker Mike Johnson said a subsidy extension "only hides the true cost of the failed law." </li><li>But moderates facing re-election next year are worried about the political fallout from spiking premiums at a time when affordability is on many consumers' minds. </li></ul><p><strong>The big picture</strong>: The renegade GOP members nonetheless voted for the GOP health bill, saying they didn't object to what's in it. </p><ul><li>Moderate GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley (Calif.) said the bill is "fine" though it is "pretty narrow" and "hastily thrown together."</li><li>"It doesn't actually address the issue that's right in front of us which is that these tax credits are going to go away," he added. </li></ul><p><strong>Go deeper: </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/18/hakeem-jeffries-mike-johnson-republicans-aca" target="_blank">How Democrats orchestrated a GOP revolt against Mike Johnson</a><a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/18/hakeem-jeffries-mike-johnson-republicans-aca" target="_blank"> </a> </p>

<p>Nearly two dozen House Democrats voted with Republicans on Thursday to block one of their own members from forcing a vote to impeach <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">President Trump</a>.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>The vote enraged Democrats, many of whom <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/11/impeachment-haley-stevens-rfk-democrats-trump" target="_blank">despise the increasingly caustic use of impeachment</a> as a political tool but don't want to be seen as supporting Trump's actions and risk angering the party base.</p><hr /><ul><li>"I hate it," one senior House Democrat told Axios on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about a sensitive vote.</li><li>"This is not a team effort," another House Democrat told Axios. "It puts us in a difficult position."</li></ul><p><strong>State of play: </strong>The vote was forced by Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who said in a House <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzvzksZVp70" target="_blank">floor speech</a> Thursday morning that Trump is "an abuser of presidential power."</p><ul><li>Green pointed to Trump <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/11/20/trump-democrats-sedition-death-penalty" target="_blank">saying last month</a> that a video of House Democrats urging military service members to disobey lawful orders was "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH."</li><li>House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) then introduced a motion to "table," or essentially kill, Green's impeachment motion. </li></ul><p><strong>By the numbers: </strong>The House voted 237 to 140 in favor of Scalise's motion, with 23 Democrats joining 214 Republicans in support of it.</p><ul><li>Another 47 Democrats voted "present" on Scalise's motion, with several switching from "yes" to "present" just before the vote was closed.</li></ul><p><strong>Yes, but: </strong>The vote represents a significant shift from June, when 128 Democrats voted to table <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/06/24/trump-impeachment-trump-iran-al-green-democrats" target="_blank">another of Green's impeachment motions</a> and just 79 sided with him.</p><ul><li>House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) all shifted from voting to table in June to voting "present" on Thursday.</li><li>So did Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom out: </strong>More and more Democrats have turned to impeachment as their preferred tool for going after Trump and his Cabinet officials.</p><ul><li>Just in the last week and a half, Democrats introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/03/pete-hegseth-impeachment-democrat-shri-thanedar" target="_blank">Pete Hegseth</a> and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.</li><li>Another Democrat is pushing for the House Judiciary Committee to begin impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/11/kristi-noem-impeachment-democrat-dhs-rfk-trump" target="_blank">Kristi Noem</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>"I think Trump has committed a number of impeachable offenses, but the impeachment process needs to be preceded by investigation, deliberation, a lot more process," said Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.), who voted "present" on the motion.</p><ul><li>Walkinshaw added that Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, "have shown that they're not willing to hold Trump accountable, I don't think they're going to change their perspective."</li><li>"We're going to have to beat him at the ballot box in November 2026," he said.</li></ul><p><em>Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting. </em></p>

<p>Senate Minority Leader <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/04/affordability-schumer-senate-democrats-midterms" target="_blank">Chuck Schumer</a> is working with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to develop a coordinated strategy to make the 2026 election a referendum on affordability.</p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/11/07/trump-prices-costs-affordability" target="_blank">Making America affordable again</a> (you could call it MAAA) will run through nearly every part of their effort to draw a sharp contrast between their economic plans and President Trump's record.</p><hr /><ul><li><strong>The goal is to isolate </strong>— and amplify — the affordability issue at nearly every turn.</li></ul><p><strong>Driving the news:</strong> Eleven months from Election Day, Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Jeffries (D-N.Y.) met Thursday to fine<strong>-</strong>tune their coordinated strategy.</p><ul><li><strong>Schumer then relayed</strong> the plan to senators in a closed-door meeting, urging them to focus on the affordability crisis — as Axios scooped on Thursday.</li><li><strong>Schumer wants lawmakers</strong> to push legislation aimed at lowering costs in four areas: health care, housing, food and energy.</li><li><strong>He also tasked senators </strong>with forming working groups to drill into each policy area.</li></ul><p><strong>The intrigue:</strong> Schumer and Jeffries watched the crushing weight of inflation under former President Biden drag down their party in 2024.</p><ul><li><strong>Now they're seizing</strong> <strong>on</strong> nearly every negative inflation data point as proof that Trump isn't focused on Americans who are struggling.</li></ul><p><strong>The other side:</strong> White House officials know they have a political problem and insist relief is coming.</p><ul><li>Last month, Trump lifted reciprocal tariffs on several grocery staples, including coffee, tea and beef. Officials also tout low gas prices and insist <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/11/09/trump-affordability-prices-inflation-hassett" target="_blank">prices are leveling off</a>.</li><li>But Trump has also dismissed Democrats' focus on cost-of-living issues, saying on Tuesday that affordability <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/us/politics/trump-affordability-economy-messaging.html" target="_blank">is a "con job</a>" and "doesn't mean anything to anybody."</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom out:</strong> Earlier this year, Schumer and Jeffries <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/02/13/trump-tax-cuts-democrats-midterms" target="_blank">began discussing</a> how to build a unified message ahead of the midterms, initially centered on a populist attack on Trump's tax cuts.</p><ul><li>Their goal has always been to seize on the <em>right</em> messaging opportunities — not every possible one.</li><li>They meet at least once during each work period to help coordinate their strategy, according to a House aide.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in:</strong> A short-term spending fight in March exposed differences between the two leaders' approaches to government funding.</p><ul><li>Senate Democrats, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/03/14/senate-democrats-vote-with-republicans-avoid-government-shutdown" target="_blank">including Schumer</a>, supplied Republicans the votes needed to keep the government open — enraging House Democrats.</li><li>Schumer and Jeffries then held a somewhat rare Sunday meeting for an "honest conversation," according to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/03/19/hakeem-jeffries-chuck-schumer-conversation?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank">one senior Democrat</a>.</li><li>But after the November government shutdown, Jeffries gave Schumer his full support — even amid a fresh wave of anger directed at the Senate leader.</li></ul><p><strong>The bottom line:</strong> The Democrats' goal is to convince incumbents and challengers to run on a message that's easy to tout — and difficult for Republicans to flout.</p>

Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) on Thursday announced he will file articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who is at the center of two scandals at the Defense Department. "This secretary has to go," Thanedar told Fox News host Josh Breslow. "He's incompetent. He's, you know, violated — he has committed war crimes....

<p>Rep. <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/01/pete-hegseth-impeachment-democrat-shri-thanedar" target="_blank">Shri Thanedar</a> (D-Mich.) announced Wednesday he plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>The long-shot effort centers on two scandals currently rocking the Pentagon — a new report about <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/02/pentagon-signalgate-defense-department-congress-review" target="_blank">Signalgate</a> and allegations of a follow-up strike against an alleged Venezuelan drug boat.</p><hr /><ul><li>Thanedar may struggle to garner support for his proposal even from his own party, however: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has already <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/01/jeffries-hegseth-impeach-venezuela-drug-boats" target="_blank">dismissed the viability</a> of trying to impeach Hegseth.</li><li>The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</li></ul><p><strong>Driving the news: </strong>Thanedar will unveil his articles of impeachment Thursday morning during a rally at Union Station in Washington, D.C., his office said in a press advisory.</p><ul><li>The articles will accuse Hegseth of "Murder and Conspiracy to Murder and Reckless and Unlawful Mishandling of Classified Information," the advisory said.</li><li>He will be joined at the rally by FLARE, a group pushing for Trump to be impeached.</li></ul><p><strong>Yes, but: </strong>Jeffries, asked at a Monday press conference about the possibility of impeaching Hegseth, shooed away the idea.</p><ul><li>"Republicans will never allow articles of impeachment to be brought to the floor of the House of Representatives, and we know that's the case," he said.</li><li>"Donald Trump will order them not to do it," he added.</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>Impeachment has been a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/06/24/trump-impeachment-trump-iran-al-green-democrats" target="_blank">source of considerable internal division</a> for Democrats this year.</p><ul><li>The party's grassroots base has pushed hard for it, but lawmakers view the maneuver as procedurally hopeless and politically fraught.</li></ul>

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday backed President Trump’s decision to provide a preemptive pardon for Rep. Henry Cuellar, suggesting the corruption charges against the longtime Texas Democrat were so “thin” that he wouldn’t have been convicted anyway.  “I don't know why the president decided to do this, [but] I think the outcome...

New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s win has sparked progressives to target House seats across the city, including some currently held by Democratic heavyweights. New York City Councilmembers Chi Ossé and Alexa Avilés are reportedly weighing bids to oust House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Reps. Dan Goldman, respectively — and have sought the backing...