Before Nancy Pelosi handpicked Hakeem Jeffries to be her successor in the Democrat House leadership, he was barely a blip on the national radar. No signature legislation, no movement behind him, just another ambitious insider. Pelosi’s choice wasn’t about merit; it was about control. She wanted a loyal steward, not a leader. And now Democrats are stuck with a figurehead who is really bad at his job.
And the shutdown has brought it all to the forefront.
When the Schumer Shutdown first began, there had never been a government shutdown over a clean continuing resolution (CR), and Jeffries thought he could control the narrative by repeatedly claiming that it wasn’t a clean CR. It was such a blatant like that even leftist Chris Cuomo called him out over it, flat-out accusing him lying about the CR.
"Listen, I like Hakeem Jeffries,” he said. “I think he’s got an amazing future. He’s got better fights than this. This is a clean CR.”
Cuomo even took the time to explain what a continuing resolution actually is. “What does that mean, by the way?” he asked rhetorically. “Continuing resolution, instead of passing a real budget like they should, this just says, ‘Hey, remember the last one? Let’s just continue at those levels again, all right?’”
Cuomo acknowledged that while the approach isn’t perfect, it’s become standard operating procedure in Washington’s swamp. Sadly, it’s been nearly three decades since Congress actually did its job and passed a full budget on time—the last one was way back in 1997. Ever since, lawmakers have limped along from one continuing resolution to the next, kicking the can down the road to avoid shutdowns instead of doing the hard work of governing.
“Now, that may mean that certain people who should get less won’t, certain people who need more won’t, but a clean CR means that this is an extension from the last set of, in this case, Biden’s spending levels,” Cuomo explained. “Okay? That’s what a clean CR is. This is a clean CR.”
Chris Cuomo PROVES Hakeem Jeffries is LYING about Democrats reason for the shutdown. pic.twitter.com/tnlDTZsKmD
— Mila Joy (@MilaLovesJoe) October 2, 2025
It hasn’t gotten better for Jeffries. The other false narrative Democrats have been pushing is that Republicans are to blame for looming healthcare increases. During a more recent appearance on CNBC this week, he clearly wasn’t prepared for a host who actually knew the facts.
The anchor reminded Jeffries that Democrats were the ones who set up this situation in the first place. “The… three-year setup for the expiration of these credits was intentionally put in,” the anchor said. “It was put in when [Democrats] controlled the White House, the House, and the Senate. You couldn’t get it passed for longer, and so this is a setup that, uh, kind of your own creation that you all couldn’t extend beyond that. Now you want the Republicans to do something you didn’t do when you were in power?”
Jeffries stumbled through his response, clearly caught off guard. “Uh, it’s not a setup, uh, beyond what we could do. We extended the Affordable Care Act tax credits in 2022, uh, for three years.”
The anchor pointed out that Democrats’ short-term design of the subsidies was deliberate, a budget gimmick that allowed them to claim temporary affordability while knowing the cost would balloon later. That’s when Jeffries retreated into the same old meaningless talking points we’ve all heard a million times.
This is a TOUGH watch.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 24, 2025
CNBC: "The 3 year setup for the expiration of [Obamacare] credits was put in when [DEMOCRATS] controlled the WH, House & Senate..
NOW you want the Republicans to do something YOU didn't do when you were in power?"
Jeffries: 😶pic.twitter.com/JB6DPfVo9B
Seriously, when even the liberal media is calling you out for lying about the shutdown: how it started, who’s responsible, and what’s really going on, you know things are bad. This isn’t just a minor embarrassment or a stumble in messaging. It’s a full-scale indictment of Democrat leadership.
Pelosi’s handpicked successor, Hakeem Jeffries, isn’t merely struggling; he’s incapable of defending his party’s record or articulating basic policy realities. Now, obviously, a big part of the problem is that their record is indefensible, but also, he just flails under scrutiny, retreats to memorized talking points, and gets schooled by anchors who actually understand the issues better than he does.
