Democrats are promising a big agenda. Their unity is already being tested

WASHINGTON (AP) — Beginning on Day One, House Democrats plan to “hold the crooks accountable.” That’s the promise House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has made, previewing an ambitious agenda with oversight of President Donald Trump’s administration and legislation to address the high costs of living, if Democrats seize majority control from Republicans in the midterm elections. But first, the Democratic leaders have to ensure they can keep their own politically diverse — and sometimes rebellious — big-tent caucus in line, which was tested this week. Two go-their-own-way Democrats bucked the party on a routine procedural vote, angering colleagues and raising a red flag about potential party divisions to come.

“His greatest challenge will be governing,” Ashley Etienne, a former top aide to Nancy Pelosi during her historic tenure as House speaker, said of Jeffries. The House majority is expected to be decided by a handful of seats in a shrinking number of competitive districts, potentially creating a similar political dynamic to the past four years under GOP control, a chaotic new era in Congress. In the House, the size of the majority matters.

When the majority is slim, any single lawmaker can become a kingmaker, determining whether a party’s agenda sinks or soars. House Speaker Mike Johnson is tested by his narrow majority almost daily, and his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, was the first in history to be booted from office, ousted by a small number of opponents from his own side. Jeffries, who is poised to become the House speaker if his party wins power and would be the first Democrat to wield the gavel since Pelosi, faces a party at a crossroads.

It has a new generation of candidates, some far-left from the Democratic Socialists of America, and they are eager for change. The Democratic leadership team responded swiftly to the slight from the two centrist lawmakers this week over the thwarted procedural vote, sending a message that they will not tolerate the kind of disruptions that have often left Republicans in disarray. “It was disappointing,” said seasoned Rep.

Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee. ”It makes us look as bad as them.” A routine procedural vote becomes anything but The procedural rule vote, which sets the terms for debate, was long a non-issue in the House.