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Don Leonard has a fair question for Hakeem Jeffries. Before I give you my vote for speaker, what can I tell the people who gave me theirs?
The Ohio representative-elect said in a video that senior Democrats warned him they could make his time in Congress miserable and cost him reelection if he kept pressing for commitments before backing Jeffries. Leonard didn’t name the lawmakers. He later described the conversation to Axios as friendly and well-intentioned. Among the commitments he wants is support for a constitutional amendment to ban super PACs. Axios
I’m glad Leonard is asking. People sent him to Washington for a reason. He flipped a seat in a district Donald Trump carried by ten points in 2024. Democratic leaders ought to be curious about what he heard from voters there, especially when some of it makes them uncomfortable. And if senior members are using the prospect of a primary or a miserable two years in Congress to get him in line, they owe him and his constituents a better answer. Axios
I also want to know what happens after the speaker vote. Say Jeffries gives Leonard the commitment he wants. Who’s writing the amendment? Who’s building support for it in the states? What can Congress do about the influence of big money while that work is underway? Those questions are part of taking the demand seriously. If you believe something needs to change, you ought to be able to tell people what you’ll do next and where you’ll need their help.
This is where I think Democrats have to be careful. A majority gives you room to move. How far you can move depends on the votes you can bring together, the tools you have, and how much time you’re willing to put into building support. Sometimes that means taking a vote you expect to lose so people can see who’s standing in the way. Sometimes it means taking a win you can get this year and coming back for more. I want Democrats to be honest about which one they’re doing and what it gets us.
There’s also something worth sitting with about the possibility of a first Black speaker of the House. That would mean something to me. So would seeing that speaker use the office to put bills on the floor that make it easier for people to afford a place to live, get the care they need, and have a say at work. For Black communities that have spent years organizing for both representation and material change, it’s reasonable to care about who holds the gavel and ask what they plan to do with it. Axios
Jeffries should sit down with Leonard and tell him what he’s prepared to put on the calendar. Leonard and the other incoming members should bring demands specific enough for voters to follow. A hearing, a bill, a date for a vote. Give people something they can check six months from now, when the cameras have moved on from the speaker fight.
I want Democrats willing to make Washington uncomfortable. I want them to stay at the table long enough to turn that pressure into something people can use. Two years from now, when they go back to the people who sent them there, I hope they have a better story to tell than who fought whom.