WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 30: U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), joined by fellow House Democrats, speaks at a press conference outside of the U.S. Capitol on September 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Democrats have secured control of the U.S. House, setting the stage for Jeffries to make history and lead a new era of congressional oversight of President Trump.
Democrats have won a majority of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in Tuesday’s midterm elections, taking back control in Congress and sending a strong rebuke to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
The wins across the country also set up a likely imminent path for U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the Democratic leader, to make history as the first Black American to become U.S. House Speaker.
“America is back!” Jeffries declared while delivering a victory speech on Tuesday night at his election night headquarters. “I grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Brooklyn, [a] union household raised in the Cornerstone Baptist Church. I learned very early on that a setback was nothing more than a setup for a comeback. Today begins the great American comeback.”
Democrats are projected to have notched the needed 218 seats to take over power in the House, which comes with constitutional authority to subpoena and investigate within the federal government. The party is projected to win as many as 244 seats, according to NBC News.
As the House Democratic leader, Jeffries, a 56-year-old congressman known for his gift of gab and his love of hip-hop and sneakers, is almost sure to be elected by his party as the next speaker of the U.S. House. If Jeffries earns enough votes, he will become the first African American to hold the position in the legislative body’s 237-year history.
Jeffries will likely lead Democrats in crucial investigations of the Trump administration once the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3, 2027. Party members have already called for reeling in or looking into Trump and his family’s wealth ties to the presidency, the Epstein files, and the administration’s federal cuts to critical programs.
Democrats have vowed to end Trump’s war in Iran, which has driven up gas and energy prices, and to reverse historic cuts to Medicaid and assistance programs like SNAP.
“The American people have spoken and made clear they’ve had enough of the extremism, enough of the corruption. They want a Congress that’s going to deliver for the American people, and that is exactly what House Democrats will do,” said Jeffries on Tuesday night.
The projected next U.S. House speaker, who said Tuesday was a “change election,” vowed to fight for all Americans, including Black and brown communities, to make the country “affordable for every single American.”
In reaction to the history that awaits Jeffries, Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright, an advisor to the Brooklyn Democrat, told theGrio, “He’s prepared for the moment.”
The close Jeffries confidant vowed, “He’s going to supersede expectations.” He continued, “There’s a reason why his caucus trusts him, and there’s no doubt in my mind that he will not take their trust and the trust of the American people for granted.”
History or not, the Democratic strategist told theGrio that Jeffries’ mission will remain the same, which he said is to “deliver on the promises he’s made to the American people, which is the Brooklyn way.” He added, “I just think that his steps have been ordered to be in this moment, and he’s going to deliver.”
During his Tuesday night remarks, Jeffries thanked American voters for placing their “confidence” in Democrats and vowed that the party would “deliver on the dramatic change that you deserve.” He added, “We understand that trust has been broken between the Congress and the American people, and we’re going to work hard to restore it.”
