Speaker or Not, Hakeem Jeffries Is the Leader of the House Right Now The Democrat got unanimous party support over three roll call votes. Kevin McCarthy tried to sell his soul, but found no buyer.

He is among a new slate of leaders elected Wednesday to lead House Democrats in the next session of Congress, including Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., as Jeffries' No. 2, and Rep. Pete Aguilar, D ...

In a letter sent to House Democrats on Tuesday, Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said leadership would vote to vacate McCarthy from the speakership.

House rules require that the speaker receive a majority of votes cast, a threshold that Jeffries, the House minority leader, failed to reach despite receiving the most votes.