Does He Finally Get It?

Attending to some family matters today, so just a quick follow-up.

Hakeem Jeffries has received some serious shit from us writers (and commenters) here at Reverse Pyromania as well as from grass-roots Democrats in general. In my view, deservedly so. But…

Maybe better late to the party than never?

You probably saw recently that Jeffries vowed “Maximum Warfare” against Republicans when it comes to redistricting. He even received praise from AOC (am I really posting a “People” article?!):

AOC Offers Rare Praise for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as He Vows 'Maximum Warfare, Everywhere, All the Time' Against Trump

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shared rare praise for her fellow New York Democrat, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, after he vowed 'maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time' against President Donald Trump and Republicans across the country

People.com

Late last week Jeffries specifically mentioned 4 states that he believes should move ahead with redistricting:

Jeffries lays out more targets for gerrymanders in response to GOP’s renewed push - POLITICO

www.politico.com/news/2026/04/30/hakeem-jeffries-voting-rights-act-gerrymandering-redistricting-2026-midterms-00900661

Today, Jeffries office put out a press release getting more specific about potetial New York redistricting:

JOINT STATEMENT FROM LEADER JEFFRIES, RANKING MEMBER MORELLE ON NEW YORK REDISTRICTING

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Committee on House Administration Ranking Member Joe Morelle released a statement announcing a redistricting initiative, the New York Democracy Project.

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Just as we should criticize where it is due, we should also give credit where it is due. Of course, in the case of Jeffries, we must keep the pressure on to ensure he is actually doing what he says/writes, and we should always - always - “trust but verify”.

Nonetheless, Jeffries’ push on redistricting and his “maximum warfare” quote are certianly welcome additions to the necessary fight against a corrupt Supreme Court:

The Court’s Corruption Seeps Into Every Tissue of American Life

We’re talking a lot today about gerrymandering and Court reform. I want...

TPM – Talking Points Memo

It’s a start. Now let’s try dragging Schumer kicking and screaming in to recognizing the moment (that may be a bridge too far…).

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Busted Knee6 months ago

Calling Alito, or his master Leonard Leo, corrupt misses the huge issue.

Leo did it for Christianity. He was open about it. But he didn't have the money to Christianize the US so he got in bed with big business. He's open about this as well. Alito has said this as well. This is all about religion. Bill Barr said this as well. All of them have said this. Repeatedly. On camera.

We are in a religious cold civil war. We can admit that or not accept what we are dealing with. Freedom of religion only worked so long as the culture, politics, and society was explicitly Christian. It's not now because liberal views on sex and gender are not compatible with the old religions at all.

Busted Knee6 months ago

Confronting this is a hard issue for us as many, most, of the minority groups we represent are more religious than educated whites and do not agree with our party on issues around sex and gender.

I'll point out, again, that Obama reached out to conservative Christians in both runs and wasn't for gay marriage. When gay marriage happened several states he won became unreachable for us permanently once he, and our party, dropped the mask on what we thought. It was sex, not black, that did us in. We need to wrap our heads around that and come up with a plan because we don't have one outside of "shout in peoples faces as loud as possible about sex and gender and call them bigots."

Kay W.6 months ago

I also think the justices redistributing House seats is a direct result of their fear of Democrat’s gains in the south. Gains in the south are (mainly) attributable to black voters, hence Roberts and Co overturning the Civil Rights Act(s). I’ll never forget the look of panic Pat Buchanan had on election night in 08 when VA came in for Obama.

Kay W.6 months ago

Jeffries is always lumped in with Schumer which is unfortunate and probably unfair to Jeffries. I still think both congressional leaders from NY is a mistake. Democrats have actually had their biggest gains in the south the last 20 years - I would have focused on VA or GA.

Sepideh M6 months ago

Yup. Every time Democrats try to pull a leader from California or New York, I am always asking how it will play in the South or are they going to treat Southerners as a bunch of stupid yokels. Because people KNOW when you are treating them like a bunch of stupid yokels.

Scott H6 months ago

An interesting angle on redistricting/gerrymandering: it's kinda a throwback in US history.

The Republican move to gerrymander themselves into near-unanimous delegations wherever they have state control, democratic process be damned, feels like a way in which we are returning to state legislatures appointing Congressional delegations (but now w/ House instead of Senate).

Yeah, voting still hasta happen but this perspective made me think.

Also too, I didn't know Dem candidate for governor, AG Weiser, had that particular stance on redistricting. I think even in this environment, I think a state-wide vote overturning the "independent" redistricting commission will be a tough sell.

mister mixAuthor6 months ago

LOL -- you really have the juice if People uses your one comment re-tweet as a peg for a big long story (AOC).

Anyway, on the Jeffries/Morelle story: Joe Morelle is the rep from my old district, NY-25, and before entering Congress after Louise Slaughter died (2018), he was Majority Leader of the NY Assembly. In other words, he's totally connected in Albany, and Jeffries picking him to do the redistricting push is a sign that Jeffries wants it done. That said, NY redistricting is going to be ugly in the sense that the high concentration of D votes are in the city and near boroughs, so they're going to have to put little tendrils out from those districts into Long Island, for example, to get some more D districts, if they want to get the biggest bang for their buck.

We'll see what Jeffries actually accomplishes but the good news is that if he's speaker in 2027, we'll have two years to evaluate his progress.

TBone Dinosaur6 months ago

Yes, praise where it's due. Also, moar please!

72 y.o. Mary has an inspiring message. Sounds like she should be a speechwriter for the guy at the Dem podium.

https://bsky.app/profile/radicalgraffiti.bsky.social/post/3ml2bjpxl7s25

TBone Dinosaur6 months ago

Someone on our team needs to get in Fetterman's ear stat, they're really tryna get him to formally cross the line.

Sepideh M6 months ago

There seems to be a lot of talk of this, but I can't see it being a reasonable thing to do unless Republicans get the majority. Why would anyone want to crossover to join the minority party?

Does He Finally Get It?

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