No on Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker of the House

The following letter was sent to U.S. Representative James McGovern on Nov.11, 2026.

In January, you will begin your 16th term in the House.

As your constituents in MA-2, we urgently request that you use your seniority to oppose Representative Hakeem JeHries for Speaker of the House and join with your colleagues in seeking an alternative.

In the midterms, voters in your district and across Massachusetts and the country forcefully repudiated the policies of the Trump administration. However, as you are quoted as saying in the Daily Hampshire Gazette in an interview with State House News Service shortly before the elections, “Let me be very blunt… if Democrats win, a large part of it is going to be because people are appalled by Donald Trump and sickened by Republican policies. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re in love with us. … I think we’re being given a chance, if we win, to actually show the people that we get it, to show whose side we’re on, and if we don’t, I think our majority will be short-lived.”

We agree with you. 

Congressman McGovern, one of the powerful messages of the election was the success of candidates who demand not only affordability, economic justice, and the abolition of ICE, but also the end of the heinous foreign policy of the Trump administration. More self-described socialists won than in any previous election… more Muslims… and more candidates who ran on a platform demanding an end to the Israeli-U.S. genocide of the Palestinian people. Young people and people of color voted blue overwhelmingly.

As Mitchell Plitnick of Mondoweiss wrote on Nov 6, “In terms of American policy in the Middle East, including not just the war [on Iran] but also the Gaza genocide and our relationship with Israel overall, the midterms were not only a rejection of Trump’s far-right agenda; they were a clear departure from the long-term, pro-Israel, AIPAC-backed policies of the Democratic old guard.” 

Those election results must be heard, honored, and acted upon. Democratic Party leadership must change to reflect the fact that the genocide of the Palestinian people is now so important to vast and growing numbers of voters that it has become a litmus test. This trend has been accelerating and will continue to do so.

Hakeem Jeffries – who proclaimed, “Israel today, Israel tomorrow, Israel forever” at a New York City rally in 2014 – should have no Congressional leadership role going forward. Jeffries has long been one of the most vociferous defenders of Israeli policy, which, as you know, is defined by ongoing occupation, apartheid, and genocide of Palestine and the Palestinian people. He has long been a darling of AIPAC, receiving more than $1 million in AIPAC donations. 

The United States must cease its immoral and unjust partnership with Israel. The single, clearest way for U.S. voters to see that the Democratic Party understands this, post the midterms, is by replacing Hakeem Jeffries.

We urge you, respectfully and in the strongest possible terms, to oppose Representative Jeffries for Speaker and to actively encourage one of your colleagues to run for Speaker. We recommend Representatives Rashida Tlaib or Ilhan Omar. Choosing a woman of color as the next House Speaker would also indicate that Congressional Democrats understand the message of Democratic voters in the recent midterms, and support and welcome the growing presence and power of women of color in the party. 

But regardless of who becomes Speaker in 2027, we ask you to oppose Representative Jeffries.

We look forward to your response.

River Valley for Palestine (Jennifer Scarlott)
Nadia Milleron – Independent Candidate for Congress MA-01
Apartheid-Free Western Mass (Rich Garsten)
Community Alliance for Peace and Justice – CAPJ (Roxanne Bruno)
Worcester Multifaith for Palestine (Marla Ladd)
Jewish Voice for Peace Western Mass (Mara Dodge)