House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) formally launched his bid to become the next speaker of the House on Wednesday, one day after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections, according to a letter he sent to colleagues and reporting by The Epoch Times and Bloomberg Government.
In the letter, posted on his official House website, Jeffries wrote, “I write to humbly request your support in connection with my candidacy to serve as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.” He opened the letter with the line “America is back!”
JUST IN: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) formally launched his bid for speaker.
He told House Democrats their new majority will make it a priority during its first 100 days to reverse Medicaid cuts, restore SNAP funding, extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax…
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) November 4, 2026
Jeffries used the letter to lay out what he said would be the new majority’s priorities for its first 100 days. According to The Epoch Times, those include reversing the Medicaid cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Donald Trump signed in July 2025, restoring SNAP funding, extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits that expired at the end of 2025, ending Trump’s tariffs and stopping the war in Iran. Bloomberg Government reported the same list, saying Jeffries promised “dramatic change.”
“The days of the House functioning like a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trump Administration are over,” Jeffries wrote, according to The Epoch Times, which reported that he repeated the line at a press conference with House Democratic leaders later that afternoon.
Affordability, accountability and ‘American values’
Jeffries organized the agenda around three areas he called affordability, accountability and American values, according to the letter. The Epoch Times reported that on accountability, he said the House would act as a check on the executive branch, go after price gouging, address problems at the Supreme Court and ban members of Congress from trading stocks.
The letter also took direct aim at the outgoing Republican majority. Jeffries wrote that “Donald Trump and House Republicans promised to lower costs on Day One. They failed,” and blamed “toxic GOP policies like the Trump tariffs and war in Iran” for higher costs.
Among the accomplishments Jeffries claimed for Democrats in the minority, according to the letter, were refusing to provide money for what he called Trump’s “violent mass deportation machine,” forcing a discharge petition vote to restore Temporary Protected Status for Haitian migrants, and setting up a litigation task force to fight the administration in court, including on birthright citizenship and National Guard deployments.
New leadership team, no impeachment talk yet
At the press conference, Jeffries said Democrats would hold at least 255 seats once all votes are counted and called the result “an American tsunami,” The Epoch Times reported. Asked about calls to impeach Trump, Jeffries said no House Democrat had raised impeachment with him, according to the same report.
Jeffries also introduced Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) as the next majority leader, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) as the next whip and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) as the next caucus chair, The Epoch Times reported. If elected when the 120th Congress convenes on Jan. 3, 2027, Jeffries would become the first Black speaker of the House, according to the outlet.
On the Republican side, current Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will not run for House GOP leader in the next Congress, a spokesman told The Epoch Times on Wednesday.
For conservatives, the letter is an early look at what a Democratic House intends to do with its gavel: roll back the 2025 Medicaid reforms, block Trump’s tariff and immigration enforcement agenda, and use oversight power against the administration for the final two years of his term.
Sources
- Rep. Hakeem Jeffries: Dear Colleague letter announcing candidacy for speaker
- The Epoch Times: Jeffries launches bid for speaker, lays out 100-day agenda
- Bloomberg Government: Jeffries promises ‘dramatic change’ in bid for House speaker
- The Epoch Times on X
Sources cited
- https://jeffries.house.gov/2026/11/04/dear-colleague-announcing-candidacy-for-speaker-of-the-house/
- https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/jeffries-launches-bid-for-speaker-lays-out-100-day-agenda-for-new-majority-6118147
- https://news.bgov.com/bloomberg-government-news/jeffries-promises-dramatic-change-in-his-bid-for-house-speaker
Sources
- Original post: The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) on X, Nov 4, 2026
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