By: Christian M. Wade
BOSTON — Members of the state’s congressional delegation are rallying behind a new generation of Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives as the chamber shifts back to Republican control following the midterm elections.
Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced that they would not seek leadership positions when a new Congress convenes next year. The GOP took control of the House after winning a narrow majority of the seats in the Nov. 8 election.
The move opened the door for a new generation of Democratic lawmakers to take over the top leadership posts and guide the soon-to-be minority caucus.
Pelosi, a California lawmaker, is the party’s long-serving leader in the House and the first woman to hold the speakership.
U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, a Salem Democrat, who several years ago let an effort to replace Pelosi, said he is backing Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York for House minority leader and Rep. Katherine Clark, a Revere Democrat, who is seeking the party’s second-in-command minority whip position.
Moulton, who won a fifth term representing the 6th Congressional District in the Nov. 8 elections, praised Jeffries for having “a brilliant strategic mind for policy paired with a relentless work ethic and an ability to understand and relate to a broad swath of Americans.”
“My respect for him is deep and earned quietly over time, and I expect the American people will experience the same,” he said in a statement. “The challenge before him is vast: We clearly have a lot of work to do to regain the trust of many Americans. But Hakeem is up to the task, and he will put in the work.”
If elected by House Democrats, Jeffries would be the first Black person to lead a party in Congress.
Clark, who served as Assistant Speaker under Pelosi, has represented the 5th Congressional District since 2013. She is credited with helping Democrats gain control of the House in 2018 and maintain a majority in the 2020 elections.
“Effective leadership is not about individual ambition, but our collective good, Clark said in her letter of candidacy. “It is about truly listening and understanding what each member needs to be successful. I will use my voice at the leadership table to bring people and solutions together.”
Rep. Lori Trahan, a Westford Democrat who won a third term representing the 3rd Congressional District, is also backing Jeffries and Clark for party leaders.
“I’m really excited about her candidacy. I’m all in, in terms of helping her get there,” Trahan said of Clark during an interview with WBUR/Radio Boston on Friday. “But in truth she has been preparing this for role for a long time.”
Trahan praises Pelosi for her work as the party’s longtime House leader but said the time has come for new generation.
Other members of the state’s all-Democrat congressional delegation have also thrown their support behind Jeffries and Clark, including Rep. Richard Neal, a Springfield Democrat who won a 18th term in the recent midterm elections.
House Democrats will meet to caucus in two weeks to select their new party leaders. Besides Jeffries and Clark, Rep. Pete Aguilar of California is seeking the third-in-command post of caucus chairman. So far, nobody has stepped forward to challenge the trio of new leaders.
To be sure, the state’s congressional delegation will be losing clout in Washington with Republicans taking over control of the House next year.
Losing a majority in the House will knock Neal off his post as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which sets the federal budget.
Rep. Stephen Lynch, a Boston Democrat who won a 12th term, will lose his position as chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Security and Rep. Bill Keating, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy and Environment, would also lose his leadership post.
And Rep. Jim McGovern, who also was reelected, will be replaced next year as chairman of the House Rules Committee, one of several congressional panels that conducted the 2019 investigation and impeachment of Republican President Donald Trump.
Political observers point out that even under a GOP controlled Congress several members of the state’s delegation, including Neal and McGovern, will remain ranking members of powerful congressional committees.
And Trahan notes that if Clark wins the second-in-command post, she would be one of the highest-ranking Massachusetts Democrats in Congress in decades, which bodes well for the state’s influence in Washington.
“Our state hasn’t had a representative this high up in the House since Tip O’Neill was speaker,” Trahan told Radio Boston. “And we know that positions us for even greater things in the years
