Jeffries is the representative for New York’s 8th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2013. Jeffries is next up for reelection in 2020.
He is also House Democratic Caucus Chair, a party leadership role. Party leaders focus more on setting their party’s legislative priorties than on introducing legislation.
![Photo of Rep. Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY8]](/static/legislator-photos/412561-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2018 Report Card for Jeffries.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Jeffries is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Jeffries has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Jul 18, 2019. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Hakeem Jeffries sits on the following committees:
- House Committee on the Budget
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House Committee on the Judiciary
- Member, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
- Member, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security
Enacted Legislation
Jeffries was the primary sponsor of 4 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 3979: Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act
- H.R. 1527 (114th): Slain Officer Family Support Act of 2015
- H.R. 544 (114th): Slain Officer Family Support Act of 2015
- H.R. 5108 (113th): To establish the Law School Clinic Certification Program of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and for other purposes.
Does 4 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Jeffries sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Crime and Law Enforcement (39%) Commerce (15%) Taxation (9%) Government Operations and Politics (9%) Health (9%) Immigration (6%) Housing and Community Development (6%) Armed Forces and National Security (6%)
Recent Bills
Some of Jeffries’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 3380: Security from Political Interference in Justice Act of 2019
- H.R. 3199: Terminating the Extension of Rights Misappropriated Act of 2019
- H.R. 2843: Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act
- H.R. 2426: CASE Act of 2019
- H.R. 2374: Stop STALLING Act
- H.R. 1999: Fair Licensing Access for Governments Act of 2019
- H.R. 1968: Shirley Chisholm Congressional Gold Medal Act
View All » | View Cosponsors »
As House Democratic Caucus Chair, Jeffries may be focused on his responsibilities other than introducing legislation, such as setting the chamber’s agenda, uniting his party, and brokering deals.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2013 to Jul 2019, Jeffries missed 143 of 4,235 roll call votes, which is 3.4%. This is worse than the median of 2.1% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
