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Dozens of Democratic candidates running for U.S. House seats nationwide told Axios they either would not support House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) for party leader or were not prepared to commit to voting for him.<\/p>\n
The responses suggest growing unease within some parts of the Democratic Party about its current leadership as the 2026 election cycle approaches, the outlet\u00a0reported\u00a0this week.<\/p>\n
Since assuming the role of Democratic leader in 2022, Hakeem Jeffries has maintained unanimous support within his caucus. That unity, however, may be tested in the next Congress amid rising frustration from grassroots activists, particularly on the party\u2019s left flank.<\/p>\n
While Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has drawn much of the criticism from progressive circles this year, Jeffries is increasingly becoming a focal point of dissatisfaction as well, Axios noted.<\/p>\n
Axios contacted nearly every Democrat running for a U.S. House seat considered potentially winnable for the party in 2026, receiving responses from 113 candidates through phone interviews or written statements.<\/p>\n
Of those surveyed, 20 said they would not vote for Hakeem Jeffries as speaker or minority leader, while another five indicated they were likely to oppose him. Fifty-seven candidates declined to commit to supporting Jeffries, describing it as too early to decide or citing concerns over ideology, strategy, messaging, or leadership style.<\/p>\n
Only 24 respondents said they would definitely back Jeffries, and seven more said they were likely to do so, the outlet said.<\/p>\n
However, his office pushed back on the narrative that he\u2019s lost support.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeader Jeffries is focused on battling Donald Trump, ending the Republican shutdown of the federal government and addressing the crushing GOP health care crisis,\u201d Jeffries spokesperson Justin Chermol told Axios.<\/p>\n
Many of the Democrats expressing skepticism toward Hakeem Jeffries are political outsiders or long-shot candidates, while several front-runners in key battleground races declined to respond to Axios\u2019 inquiries. Still, a number of Jeffries\u2019 critics and noncommittal candidates have credible paths to winning seats in Congress.<\/p>\n
Among them are Daniel Biss and Kat Abughazaleh, two leading contenders in the Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), both of whom stopped short of pledging to support Jeffries.<\/p>\n
Other prominent challengers \u2014 including Luke Bronin, Donavan McKinney, Mai Vang, Saikat Chakrabarti, and Patrick Roath \u2014 have also withheld their support. Each is running well-funded campaigns aimed at unseating long-serving Democratic incumbents.<\/p>\n
Heath Howard, a New Hampshire state representative running for an open U.S. House seat, told Axios regarding the Democratic leader: \u201cI think we need to have a new type of leadership that\u2019s \u2026 going to fight back significantly harder against the Trump administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abughazaleh, meanwhile, told Axios she will support a leader who is \u201ctaking actual action against this administration\u201d and that the left should use \u201cour leverage to demand progressive change.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to see improvement, without question,\u201d Amanda Edwards, who was a member of the Houston city council and is now running in a Texas special election, told the outlet.<\/p>\n
Harry Jarin, a firefighter mounting a primary challenge to former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), told Axios: \u201cThe anger of the base right now is not being matched by Democratic leadership \u2026 and that is going to have to change one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n
A recurring theme among candidates who declined to back Jeffries was his refusal to endorse socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani \u2014 a decision that has also become a source of frustration among left-wing members of Congress.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis refusal to endorse Zohran makes me nervous that, if I were to become the nominee in my race, he and the party would not support me,\u201d noted Jacob Lawrence, who is set to challenged Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.).<\/p>\n
Chakrabarti, when asked whether he would support for Jeffries, quipped: \u201cWhat is it that Hakeem said about endorsing Zohran? \u2018I\u2019ll have conversations with him and see where it goes.<\/p>\n
Former FBI Director James Comey is scheduled to be arraigned in a Virginia federal court on Wednesday morning, several weeks after being indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of obstruction of justice and making a false statement.
Reports said Comey pleaded not guilty during his appearance Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
The case stems from allegations that Comey misled the Senate during testimony in September 2020, when he reaffirmed his 2017 denial of authorizing an FBI leak to the media concerning the Trump-Russia or Clinton-related investigations. Prosecutors further allege that Comey obstructed Congress by providing false statements to lawmakers.<\/p>\n
While the arraignment has drawn national attention, senior Justice Department officials on Tuesday dismissed reports suggesting that law enforcement planned to arrest Comey publicly or escort him theatrically into court, saying the proceedings will follow standard protocol.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Comey has been directed to appear, and I expect that he will,\u201d Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News. \u201cThe noise from MSNBC and from retired agents or unnamed anonymous sources about perp walks is just that. It\u2019s just noise.\u201d<\/p>\n
The FBI was reportedly considering a \u201cshowy\u201d arrest and perp walk of Comey \u2014 and the bureau has already suspended an agent who refused to take part, according to multiple sources cited by CBS News<\/p>\n
Comey was charged last month with lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. The move came after President Donald Trump publicly pressed Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate his longtime adversary.<\/p>\n
A grand jury indicted Comey on Sept. 25, and he was issued a summons to appear in federal court in Virginia on Oct. 9 for arraignment. His attorneys had agreed to bring him to court voluntarily, two sources said to CBS News.<\/p>\n
But that same day, FBI leadership reportedly discussed hauling Comey in rather than waiting for him to appear on his own. A source familiar with the conversations told CBS News that leadership wanted \u201clarge, beefy\u201d agents to carry out the arrest \u201cin full kit,\u201d including Kevlar vests and outerwear emblazoned with the FBI logo.<\/p>\n
The plan, according to the source, was for a supervisory special agent in the violent crimes division of the Washington Field Office to assemble the team. However, the agent refused, believing such a display would be \u201cinappropriate and highly unusual\u201d for a white-collar defendant like Comey.<\/p>\n
That agent was then suspended for insubordination, CBS News reported.<\/p>\n
The FBI is said to be moving forward with efforts to put together another team to arrest Comey between now and his scheduled court appearance. However, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the situation, other supervisors have also refused to cooperate.<\/p>\n
The charges allege that Comey lied during a Senate hearing five years ago when he claimed he had not authorized anyone at the FBI to serve as an anonymous source in media reports about investigations into Hillary Clinton. The indictment does not specify who he allegedly authorized or what the leak involved. Comey has denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
The indictment followed turmoil inside the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, where Comey was charged. The office\u2019s lead prosecutor, Erik Siebert, resigned two weeks before the indictment. Trump then appointed his former personal attorney, Lindsey Halligan, as Siebert\u2019s replacement. Within a week, Halligan asked a grand jury to indict Comey.<\/p>\n
A Justice Department source told CBS News that some staff members in the office had circulated a memo arguing that Comey should not be charged. Two senior prosecutors in the Eastern District were also fired in recent weeks, according to CBS.<\/p>\n
While the political and legal implications of Comey\u2019s case are already significant, the debate over the FBI\u2019s possible \u201cshowy\u201d arrest has fueled even greater controversy \u2014 especially given the bureau\u2019s past handling of high-profile arrests<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dozens of Democratic candidates running for U.S. House seats nationwide told Axios they either would not support House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) for party leader or were not prepared to commit…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t