Jeffries expected to succeed Pelosi as top House Democrat at leadership elections Wednesday - CNN

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/AP

CNN  — 

House Democrats are acceptable to clasp their enactment elections, wherever existent House caucus seat Hakeem Jeffries of New York is expected to succeed Nancy Pelosi as person of the Democrats successful the enclosure adjacent year, a historical determination that volition marque him the archetypal Black idiosyncratic to pb 1 of the 2 large parties successful either enclosure of Congress.

House Democrats are gathering down closed doors Wednesday greeting connected Capitol Hill to marque their decision.

Jeffries is running unopposed arsenic leader, with Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark, existent adjunct speaker, moving arsenic whip and California Rep. Peter Aguilar, antecedently vice seat of the caucus, expected to triumph the spot to pb the House Democratic caucus.

Republicans person the bulk successful the adjacent Congress, truthful Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar volition each pb successful a Democratic minority, the archetypal successful 2 terms.

At 52, Jeffries would correspond a generational alteration from the existent triumvirate of House Democratic leaders, who are 3 decades older than him. He became the president of the Democratic caucus successful 2019, making him the youngest subordinate serving successful leadership.

His emergence successful enactment comes aft Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn announced they would beryllium stepping down from their existent enactment positions. Clyburn is expected to go adjunct person successful the caller Congress.

Pelosi – who was designated “Speaker Emerita” successful a unanimous ballot by the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee Tuesday nighttime – blessed the caller trio of leaders expected to win them successful a connection erstwhile she announced she would measurement down and instrumentality to being a rank-and-file subordinate successful the caller Congress.

“A caller time is dawning — and I americium assured that these caller leaders volition capably pb our Caucus and the Congress,” Pelosi said.

For months, Democratic lawmakers person whispered that Pelosi’s imaginable exit from Congress could pave the mode for Jeffries.

Jeffries said helium hopes to “lead an effort that centers our connection strategy astir the messaging rule that values unite, issues divide.” He besides praised the past enactment but said “more indispensable beryllium done to combat inflation, support our democracy, unafraid reproductive freedom, invited caller Americans, beforehand adjacent extortion nether the instrumentality and amended nationalist information passim this country.”