Jeffries, Democrats shift tone, aim to move beyond defector scandal

House Democrats appear ready to move beyond the defection scandal that riled the caucus earlier in the week.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and his top deputies had declared on Tuesday that the move by Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) to back a GOP rule constituted “a significant breach of trust” that demanded “a significant response.” Some Democrats were calling for them to lose committee posts.

On Thursday, however, Jeffries’s tone changed dramatically. The Democratic leader said he met with Gluesenkamp Perez, and the two came away agreeing to communicate “in a consistent way where we can arrive at shared priorities.”

“Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, of course, is an important member of the House Democratic Caucus fighting hard for the people that she represents in Washington and a leader of the Blue Dogs,” Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol. “And we value every single member in our caucus — progressives, the New Dems and Blue Dogs — and we’re going to move forward together, in unity, in order to solve problems for the American people.”

The change of tone reflects the reality facing Jeffries and his leadership team heading into the midterms. While those leaders want to send a message that going rogue on procedural rules won’t be tolerated, they also don’t want to harm one of their most vulnerable members politically just two months before the elections.

Gluesenkamp Perez represents a battleground district that President Trump won in 2024, and House Republicans have made her a top target in November.

Golden, who also represents a Trump-won district, is retiring at the end of this term.

Jeffries, who is in line to become Speaker if the House changes hands, also has an incentive not to alienate any members of the caucus ahead of the Speaker vote.

Jeffries said rank-and-file Democrats will continue to discuss potential changes to internal caucus rules in response to the defections, but he suggested there would be no punishments for the defectors, as some lawmakers had initially advocated for.

Jeffries said Gluesenkamp Perez spoke with Rep. Jim McGovern (Mass.), the senior Democrat on the Rules Committee, on Wednesday, and the two ”are going to resolve any differences that exist.”

“Because both of them — as is the case with the entirety of the House Democratic Caucus — understand what the stakes are in terms of defeating MAGA extremism in November,” Jeffries said, “and then as Democrats, getting off to a fast start in January.”