With Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer under intensifying fire from members of his own party, speculation is now reportedly mounting over whether Democratic unrest could soon spread to the House.
On Thursday’s Fox & Friends, host Lawrence Jones suggested that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries may be the next target of internal Democratic frustration.
“So, quick prediction: Jeffries is next,” Jones said during a segment on the ongoing government shutdown. Speaking with co-hosts Brian Kilmeade and Ainsley Earhardt, he argued that the Democratic leadership’s fractures have deepened in recent weeks. “They’re gonna get rid of him next. First, it was Schumer. They’re not happy with Jeffries as well. They don’t like his alignment with AIPAC, as well. They have been very critical of how he does things.”
Jones continued, “They really don’t respect him. They took all their guidance from Nancy Pelosi. Nancy Pelosi kind of protected him. But now that she is retiring, I believe he is gonna be the next target.”
The comments come as Schumer’s position has grown increasingly precarious after a bruising 43-day government shutdown that left Democrats divided and Republicans newly emboldened.
Schumer has struggled to hold together a caucus that has veered sharply left in recent years, as progressive lawmakers push for more confrontational strategies and reject bipartisan compromise.
In the end, Schumer lost seven Democratic colleagues — and one Independent — who crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans on a stopgap spending bill earlier this week.
The defections dealt a serious blow to Schumer’s standing and underscored the internal strains facing his party, particularly among those frustrated by what they view as a lack of direction and discipline.
Progressive Rep. Ro Khanna of California has publicly called for Schumer’s removal, arguing that the minority leader’s handling of the shutdown and negotiations with Republicans reflected a failure of leadership. “Schumer’s leadership has yet to receive any kind of official challenge among Senate Democrats,” one report noted, but the atmosphere in Washington suggests that could change if discontent continues to build.
For many Democrats, the struggle highlights a broader identity crisis within the party — one that pits its older, establishment leadership against a younger and more activist base. That divide has only widened as public trust in Washington continues to erode and the party grapples with how to appeal to working-class and moderate voters it has increasingly lost to Republicans.
Jones’s prediction about Jeffries reflects those same tensions. As the first Black lawmaker to lead a major party in Congress, Jeffries was once seen as a bridge between the party’s traditional leadership and its insurgent left flank. But his ties to pro-Israel groups like AIPAC and his more cautious approach to legislative battles have made him a target of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing.
While neither Schumer nor Jeffries has signaled any intent to step down, the turmoil underscores the Democrats’ growing challenges heading into 2026 — not only in confronting Republicans, but in confronting their own internal divisions.
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