Hakeem Jeffries Could Soon Be The De Facto Speaker Of The House

The Republican House majority is about to drop to one, which means that Democrats are close to having Hakeem Jeffries be the key decisionmaker.

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Things Are So Bad In The House That Republicans Can’t Wait To Leave

Waves of retirements are common in the House of Representatives in an election year. Members leave for all sorts of reasons, but the two most common are that they are going to lose their seats due to redistricting or unpopularity or that their party is going to lose the majority.

A third reason is that veteran members in safe districts often choose to announce their retirement due to wanting to move on, but many do so as early as possible so that their party can plan for primaries and a general election.

What we are witnessing in the House of Representatives in 2024 is something unusual. Members of the majority are announcing that they will not run for reelection, saying that they will finish their current term, and then changing their minds and leaving early.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) is the latest House Republican to change his mind about finishing out his term by announcing that he will resign on April 19. Gallagher joins Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado as another Republican who chose to bail early rather than stay.

The end result of these early departures, some of which have blindsided Speaker Mike Johnson is that the Republican House majority will soon drop to just one vote.

Due to the law in Wisconsin, Rep. Gallagher’s seat will not be filled until the November election, because he is leaving after the second Tuesday in April deadline for the seat to be filled by a special election.

This means that when Gallagher leaves, Republicans will lose a seat for the rest of the year.

The House Republican majority is about to drop to one vote, which means that Democrats and Hakeem Jeffries could soon effectively run the House, as we will discuss below.