2026-09-07T08:00:29.402Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/07/politics/jeffries-challenges-left-progressives
美国民主党左翼势力今夏势头强劲，全国关键选区中厌倦现状的自由派选民摒弃传统温和派候选人，转而支持激进进步派人士。
但在幕后，极激进派的众议院议员和候选人正向本党领袖施压，要求领导层更贴合这一民意趋势——他们认为，民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯及其盟友迄今未能领会今夏蜂拥而至的极左翼选民的诉求。
这些自由派人士近期忧心忡忡地观察到，杰弗里斯公开否定他们的标志性法案《全民医保法案》，同时一名亲以色列的民主党人获提拔进入党团内的关键外交政策岗位。他们还指责杰弗里斯的盟友试图破坏密歇根州和加利福尼亚州的两名进步派候选人的竞选。
“我对这番表态感到非常困惑和意外，”众议院《全民医保法案》的起草者、资深进步派议员普拉米拉·贾亚帕尔对CNN谈及领袖对其标志性法案的评论时说道。她补充道，自己已就此事与杰弗里斯进行了“直接对话”。
左翼日益显现的不满情绪，预示着如果民主党明年拿下众议院多数席位，杰弗里斯将面临诸多压力，尤其是一批新晋极左翼进步派候选人威胁不会在选举后支持他继续担任党领袖。
“我认为我们在全国范围内看到的情况是，各地民众都心怀不满。他们对本届政府不满，对民主党当前的领导层不满——并寻求变革，”亚当·哈马维博士告诉CNN。他是一名进步派候选人，有望在今年11月赢得新泽西州一个深蓝选区的席位。哈马维是多位初选获胜的候选人之一，尚未决定是否支持杰弗里斯。
“我认为大多数民主党人都认同，当前的领导层未能顺应时代形势，”当被问及是否会支持杰弗里斯时，哈马维告诉CNN，“我得看看届时的选择和具体情况。”
民主党内部的紧张关系由来已久，众议院党团更是分歧严重，许多温和派议员私下对杰弗里斯在关键选举前推动民主党远离极左翼议程的做法感到满意。但民主党民主社会主义翼的崛起，让杰弗里斯如今面临的核心问题愈发紧迫：在11月的选举中，民主党既要在共和党票仓拿下数十个席位，又应在多大程度上接纳反叛的左翼势力？
与十余名民主党人士的对话显示，几乎所有接受CNN采访的进步派人士都认为，如果民主党拿下众议院多数席位，杰弗里斯仍有望在明年1月当选议长。据知情人士透露，杰弗里斯已私下与至少五名反叛派民主党议员会面或安排会面：新泽西州的哈马维、纽约州的克莱尔·巴尔德斯和达里亚利扎·阿维拉·谢瓦利埃，以及科罗拉多州的梅拉特·基罗斯。
尽管如此，近期左翼的不满情绪凸显了杰弗里斯及其领导团队面临的挑战：如何应对党内反建制的中期选举情绪。不满情绪不仅局限于领导层高层：多名知情人士告诉CNN，现任进步派议员内部已展开初步讨论，考虑挑战委员会领导层，并可能对关键职位设置任期限制。
“击败10名任职30年的现任议员，应该给民主党建制派敲响警钟：选民基础正在他们脚下发生变化，”助力极左翼获胜的组织“正义民主党”的发言人乌萨马·安德拉比告诉CNN。（本届选举周期中，该组织 endorsed 的九名候选人赢得了初选，是该组织成立以来成绩最好的一年。）
安德拉比特别指出了杰弗里斯关于《全民医保法案》的言论——杰弗里斯近期表示他不支持该立法：“不幸的是，民主党领导层和建制派往往甚至不愿承认民意基础正在发生变化。”
包括哈马维和阿维拉·谢瓦利埃在内的进步派人士在接受CNN采访时明确表示，他们前往华盛顿是为了在负担得起的住房和反腐败等雄心勃勃的议程上取得切实进展，而非单纯与领导层对抗。
“我们并不是去挑起争端，而是去兑现民众的诉求，”哈马维说道。
即便如此，杰弗里斯的盟友也承认，他在明年将面临一项挑战：应对党内关于民主党意识形态未来的内部分歧。势头正盛的左翼势力推动国会进行重大改组，而杰弗里斯同时可能面临一个壮大的温和派阵营——就在上周，该阵营的一些议员公然违背党线投票支持关键议程，甚至不惜帮助共和党人，这让领导层颜面尽失。
这场温和派的反叛随后引发了众议院民主党内部的激烈内讧。据两派民主党人士透露，杰弗里斯及其团队私下正在讨论如何惩罚任何投票支持损害党派利益的程序性动议的本党议员——这一提议激怒了左翼和温和派双方。
围绕党领袖是否应在明年制定新规则惩罚违背领导层的议员，一场激烈的辩论随即展开。据多名知情人士透露，在周三一场关于领导层提议的闭门会议上，进步党团主席、来自德克萨斯州的格雷格·卡萨尔强烈反对，辩称议员应有权表达不同意见。但他随即遭到包括佛罗里达州众议员黛比·沃瑟曼·舒尔茨在内的其他人的反驳，后者认为民主党不应在议会中自行其是。
如果民主党赢得众议院多数席位，这些博弈将在明年1月的议长选举中充分显现。
阿维拉·谢瓦利埃是一名社区组织者，今夏通过击败一名长期任职的现任议员撼动了纽约市政坛。她告诉CNN，她最近与杰弗里斯进行了一次“积极的”对话。
但当被问及是否会支持杰弗里斯担任党领袖时，她表示自己尚未“做出任何最终决定”，并补充道：“这将是我投出的第一票。它将为我所在选区的议员定下基调，我希望这张票对我的社区有意义。”
即便许多极左翼新晋民主党议员最终会支持杰弗里斯，暂时不明确表态对他们有利——这将为他们在首次进入国会时争取自身优先议程的谈判创造强大筹码。
当被广泛问及明年的议程时，阿维拉·谢瓦利埃列出了一系列“上任第一天”的优先事项，包括停止向以色列出售武器、推进公共住房绿色新政、废除超级政治行动委员会，以及民主党广泛支持的全民托儿服务和提高最低工资等其他主张。
“是时候让那些身处华盛顿或其他地方、安于现状的人认识到，这个国家的绝大多数民众都渴望改变，”她说。
在这场必须赢下的中期选举前夕，许多自由派民主党人小心翼翼地避免公开批评本党领导层。
但私下里，进步派议员和候选人仍对杰弗里斯的言论感到担忧：他公开否定《全民医保法案》，并在上个月接受NBC《与媒体见面》节目采访时表示自己不支持美国民主社会主义者的议程。
当被问及是否支持该法案时，杰弗里斯表示：“不，正如你所说，我没有联名赞助过去几年提出的《全民医保法案》，”他补充道：“我确实认为我们需要找到修复我们破碎的医疗体系的方法，然后在此基础上构建更好的体系。”
杰弗里斯的盟友表示，他的言论也反映了他长期以来的信念：众议院领袖不应在党团内部形成广泛支持之前就支持重大法案。
其他进步派人士担心，党领导层未能充分回应运动中日益高涨的亲巴勒斯坦诉求。他们尤其担忧的是，近期将知名以色列支持者、佛罗里达州众议员贾里德·莫斯科witz提拔至外交事务小组委员会职位，这可能让他在明年拥有影响外交政策的权力。
多名民主党人士告诉CNN，杰弗里斯并未参与此次人事调动——而是由另一名以色列盟友、众议员布拉德·谢尔曼安排的，谢尔曼在一名同事辞职后接手了该职位。据知情人士透露，面临艰难连任的莫斯科witz曾询问谢尔曼能否获得该小组委员会席位，以帮助他争取家乡的亲以色列选民。
外交事务委员会首席民主党议员格雷戈里·米克斯驳斥了左翼的批评，称此次人事变动是“标准的委员会程序”。他补充道，莫斯科witz此前已在委员会担任过重要职务——监督小组委员会的首席民主党议员，该职位现已转交伊利诺伊州众议员乔纳森·杰克逊。
“我不知道左翼在纠结什么，”米克斯说，他认为自己的委员会在以色列问题上“非常平衡”。
尽管如此，莫斯科witz的晋升已成为进步派议员和候选人之间的重大争议点，尤其是在杰弗里斯今年早些时候通过反对削减对以色列的纳税人援助，并在一场具有里程碑意义的投票中宣称“美国在中东的政策必须改变”，以此向左翼示好之后。
还有党领导层近期在竞选活动中的举动引发不满。
在加利福尼亚州，进步派人士怒不可遏，因为该州代表团领袖、众议员佐伊·洛夫格伦试图破坏一名左翼候选人的竞选，这场争斗围绕填补前众议员埃里克·斯沃韦尔的席位展开。
进步派候选人、州参议员艾莎·瓦哈布赢得了州民主党背书，并在该席位的两次单独选举（包括一次特别选举）的初选中获得最多选票——尽管她未能获得50%的支持率，因此需进入决选。
在8月18日的决选之前，作为领导层盟友的洛夫格伦发布了一段视频声明，质疑瓦哈布担任国会议员的资格，并转而支持一名更温和的候选人参加即将到来的决选。
这场闹剧始于洛夫格伦和包括众议院民主党三号人物皮特·阿吉拉尔在内的其他人辩称，加州民主党需要尽快填补该席位，应临时任命一名“过渡性”民主党议员。
但进步派人士认为，洛夫格伦只是想阻止瓦哈布获得该席位，以便让这位更温和、且得到美国以色列公共事务委员会支持的候选人更有机会在11月赢得该席位的完整任期。（一名知情人士表示，这位众议员反对瓦哈布并非因为她的进步政策立场，而是因为瓦哈布拒绝支持在明年1月前任命“过渡性”民主党议员的提议。）
瓦哈布最终赢得了决选，并于上周宣誓就职众议院议员。但进步派人士表示，代价是选举中耗费了数百万美元的资金，这些资金本可用于击败共和党对手。
瓦哈布告诉KCRA 3电视台，她此后已与洛夫格伦和阿吉拉尔交谈，他们都对她的胜利表示祝贺。但瓦哈布最直言不讳的支持者之一、加州知名进步派活动人士阿马尔·谢尔吉尔告诉CNN，他仍指责党领导层允许这种“令人震惊的”干预，破坏了获得州民主党背书的候选人。
“我从未见过这样的事情，这是前所未有的，”谢尔吉尔说，“洛夫格伦领导着美国最大的国会代表团。当她在幕后采取行动时，所有人都心知肚明。华盛顿的领导层不可能不知道她在做什么。”
“初选过程很艰难，但我们期待所有人都能团结在她周围，将初选抛在脑后，”国会进步党团PAC执行主任埃文·布朗说道。
与此同时在密歇根州，进步派人士怒不可遏，因为民主党国会竞选委员会在左翼民主党候选人威尔·劳伦斯赢得一场激烈的三方初选约一个月后，拒绝公开为他造势。
争议焦点在于：民主党国会竞选委员会迄今未将劳伦斯纳入其备受追捧的重点众议院候选人名单，部分原因是为了照顾国会黑人核心小组的领袖们。多名参与相关讨论的人士告诉CNN。
黑人核心小组尚未背书劳伦斯，此前在初选期间，劳伦斯曾因2024年发表批评黑人政治领袖的言论而与他们发生公开争执。劳伦斯是一名白人气候活动家，最近暂停了他的美国民主社会主义者会员资格，他因称黑人政治领袖“削弱白人左翼的力量”而遭到包括杰弗里斯和米克斯在内的资深黑人民主党人的批评。
劳伦斯在之前接受CNN采访时已为其言论的“措辞选择”道歉。据一名知情人士透露，一些众议院进步派人士“完全暴怒”，因为党领导层尚未支持他。
“我们正在寻找一条能够支持他的前进道路，”一名了解情况的黑人核心小组战略家告诉CNN。
由民主党国会竞选委员会运营的这份名单，实际上被视为党领袖的“认可印章”——是党团团体和捐赠者向最具实力的候选人提供支持的明确信号。进步派人士表示，劳伦斯未能入选该名单，导致他失去了重要的筹款助力，无法帮助击败共和党众议员汤姆·巴雷特。
此次密歇根州的风波发生在党领导层支持其他多位关键选区的进步派候选人之后——其中包括一些击败了党首选候选人的人，比如加利福尼亚州关键摇摆选区的兰迪·维列加斯。
民主党国会竞选委员会和劳伦斯的竞选团队均拒绝置评。但一名了解民主党国会竞选委员会内部运作的人士告诉CNN，该委员会一直在“每天”与劳伦斯的团队合作，以在11月击败巴雷特。
领导黑人核心小组PAC的米克斯表示，他已与劳伦斯通过电话进行了“良好的交谈”，并期待不久后在华盛顿与他会面。
“我们会谈谈的。我认为我们会解决这个问题，”他说，“看看他的对手是谁，我们都希望他能赢。”
Far-left Democrats had a huge summer. Now they have big demands for party leaders
2026-09-07T08:00:29.402Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/07/politics/jeffries-challenges-left-progressives
The left wing of the Democratic Party flourished this summer as fed-up liberals in key races across the country have eschewed traditional, more moderate candidates in favor of hard-charging progressives.
But behind the scenes, ultra-progressive House members and candidates are pushing their own party leaders to reflect more of that mood — arguing that Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and his allies are, so far, failing to grasp the demands of far-left voters who showed up in droves this summer.
Those liberals watched in alarm in recent weeks as Jeffries publicly disavowed their marquee “Medicare for All” bill while a pro-Israel Democrat was elevated to a key foreign policy role within the caucus. They also argue his allies were working to undermine a pair of progressive candidates in Michigan and California.
“I was very confused and surprised by that,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a senior progressive and author of the House’s “Medicare for All” bill, told CNN about the leader’s comments about her signature bill. She added that she has been having “direct” conversations with Jeffries about it.
The emerging frustrations on the left offer a preview of some of the pressures that await Jeffries if the party can flip the chamber next year, particularly as a new crop of far-left progressive candidates threaten not to support him for leader post-election.
“I think what we’ve seen around the country is that people all over are dissatisfied. They’re not happy with the administration. They’re not happy with the current leadership in the Democratic Party — and are looking for a change,” Dr. Adam Hamawy, a progressive candidate who is likely to win a deep blue seat in New Jersey this November, told CNN. Hamawy is among several candidates fresh off primary victories who have not decided whether to back Jeffries.
“Most Democrats, I think, agree that the current leadership is failing to face the moment,” Hamawy told CNN when asked if he’ll support Jeffries. “I have to see what the choices are and what the situation is.”
Tensions have long simmered within the Democratic Party, including in its fractious House caucus, where many centrists are privately pleased with what they see as Jeffries’ effort to distance the party from a far-left agenda ahead of a critical election. But the rise of the democratic-socialist wing of the party has drawn new urgency to a major question now facing Jeffries: How much should the party embrace its insurgent left when it’s also trying to win dozens of seats in GOP turf in November?
Nearly all progressives who spoke to CNN said Jeffries is still on track to become speaker next January if Democrats flip the chamber, according to conversations with more than a dozen Democrats. Privately, Jeffries has already met or made plans to meet with five of those insurgent Democrats: Hamawy in New Jersey, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York, and Melat Kiros in Colorado, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Still, the recent frustrations on the left illustrate the challenge for Jeffries and his leadership team as they navigate the anti-establishment midterm mood within their party. The dissatisfaction goes beyond the upper echelons of leadership: there are preliminary internal discussions among current progressive members about challenging committee leaders and, possibly, instituting term limits for key roles, multiple people told CNN.
“Defeating 10, 30-year incumbents should be a wake-up call to the Democratic establishment that the base is moving underneath them,” Usamah Andrabi, a spokesperson for a group helping to power the far-left wins, Justice Democrats, told CNN. (This cycle, nine of the group’s endorsed candidates won primaries, its biggest year to date.)
Andrabi specifically pointed to Jeffries’ comments on “Medicare for All” – in which Jeffries recently said he did not support the legislation: “Unfortunately, it often feels that the Democratic leadership and establishment don’t even want to acknowledge the ground is moving.”
Progressives, including Hamawy and Avila Chevalier, made clear in interviews with CNN they are coming to Washington to make real progress on an ambitious agenda on affordability and anti-corruption — not to simply antagonize leadership.
“We’re not really going in to fight, we’re going in to deliver on what people want,” Hamawy said.
Yet even Jeffries’ allies acknowledge the challenge awaiting him in January: navigating an intraparty battle over the party’s ideological future. While an emboldened left wing is pushing for a major shake-up in Congress, Jeffries could also face an expanded centrist bloc that humiliated leadership last week when some of its members showed they were willing to defy the party line on key priorities — even if it meant helping Republicans.
That centrist rebellion has since triggered a messy internal feud among House Democrats. Privately, Jeffries and his team are discussing ways to crack down on any of their members voting for procedural motions that hurt the party – a proposal that has infuriated the left and centrists alike, according to Democrats from both factions.
A tense debate has since unfolded over whether party leaders should create new rules for next year to punish members who defy leadership. In a closed-door meeting on Wednesday about leadership’s push, Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar of Texas pushed back firmly, arguing that members need to be able to voice dissent, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions. But he was immediately confronted by others, including Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, who argued Democrats shouldn’t be willing to go rogue on the floor.
Those dynamics will be on full display starting with the speaker’s vote in January, if Democrats win the majority.
Avila Chevalier, a community organizer who shook New York City politics by unseating a long-time incumbent this summer, told CNN that she recently had a “positive” conversation with Jeffries.
But she said she hasn’t “come to any final decisions on that yet,” when asked whether she would support Jeffries as party leader, adding: “It’ll be the first vote I make. It’ll set the tone for the kind of representative that my district will have, and I want that vote to mean something to my community.”
Even if many of the far-left incoming Democrats ultimately do support Jeffries, it’s to their advantage not to show their cards just yet – creating what could be powerful leverage to negotiate for their priorities when they first arrive in Congress.
Asked more broadly about her agenda for next year, Avila Chevalier offered a range of “day one” priorities such as ending the sale of weapons to Israel, the Green New Deal for Public Housing and abolishing super PACs – as well as other ideas that are widely backed by the party like universal childcare and raising the minimum wage.
“It’s time that folks who are in DC or elsewhere who might be comfortable with the status quo to recognize that the vast majority of the people of this country are hungry for something different,” she said.
Many liberal Democrats are careful not to openly criticize their own leadership just ahead of a must-win midterm election.
But privately, progressive members and candidates remain concerned by Jeffries’ comments publicly disavowing “Medicare for All” and saying he does not support the Democratic Socialists of America agenda in an interview last month with NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Asked if he supports the bill, Jeffries said: “No, as you indicated, I haven’t cosponsored the ‘Medicare for All’ legislation that has been introduced over the last several years,” adding: “I do think we need to figure out how to fix our broken health care system and then build something better.”
Jeffries’ allies said his comments also reflect one of his long-time beliefs — that House leaders should not support major bills until there’s broad support in the caucus.
Other progressives are concerned that party leaders are not adequately responding to the movement’s vocal pro-Palestine push. They are, in particular, concerned about the recent elevation of prominent Israel supporter, Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, to a Foreign Affairs subcommittee post that could give him influence over foreign policy next year.
Multiple Democrats told CNN that Jeffries was not involved in the move – saying instead that it was arranged by Rep. Brad Sherman, another Israel ally, who inherited the role after a colleague’s resignation. Moskowitz, who’s facing a tough reelection, asked Sherman if he could have the spot on the panel to help him with pro-Israel voters back home, those people said.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, dismissed the left’s criticism, calling the hand-off “standard committee procedure.” He added that Moskowitz had already held an important role on the committee – the top Democrat on the oversight subcommittee, which has since been passed off to Rep. Jonathan Jackson of Illinois.
“I don’t know what the left’s problem is,” Meeks said, adding that he believes his committee is “very balanced” on the issue of Israel.
Still, the rise of Moskowitz has emerged as a major flashpoint among progressive lawmakers and candidates, especially after Jeffries had appealed to the left earlier this year by declaring that “American policy in the Middle East must change” after he opposed cutting taxpayer aid to Israel during a landmark vote earlier this year.
Then there are party leaders’ recent moves on the campaign trail.
In California, progressives are furious that their state’s delegation leader, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, tried to tank a left-wing candidate in a bitter fight to fill the seat of former Rep. Eric Swalwell.
Progressive candidate, state Sen. Aisha Wahab, won the state party’s endorsement and secured the most votes in two separate primaries for the seat (including a special election) – though she failed to top the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff.
Ahead of that August 18 runoff, Lofgren, a leadership ally, released a video statement questioning Wahab’s fitness to serve in Congress and instead endorsed a more moderate candidate for the upcoming runoff.
The drama began after Lofgren and others, including No. 3 House Democrat Rep. Pete Aguilar, argued that California Democrats needed to fill the seat as quickly as possible and should install a “placeholder” Democrat to the seat temporarily.
But progressives argued Lofgren was simply trying to keep Wahab out of the role, giving the more moderate — and AIPAC-backed — candidate a better chance of winning a full term for the seat in November. (A person familiar with the subject said the congresswoman wasn’t opposing her due to her progressive policy stands, but rather because of Wahab’s refusal to back the push to install a “placeholder” Democrat to the seat through January.)
Wahab still won and was sworn into the House last week. But the cost, progressives say, was millions of dollars in spending in the election that could have gone toward defeating Republicans.
Wahab has since spoken with both Lofgren and Aguilar and they congratulated her on her win, she told KCRA 3 News. But one of Wahab’s most vocal supporters, Amar Shergill, a prominent progressive activist in California, told CNN that he still blames party leaders for allowing such a “shocking” intervention against the candidate endorsed by the state party.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, it was unprecedented,” Shergill said. “Lofgren leads the largest congressional delegation in the country. When she makes moves behind the scenes, everybody hears about it. It’s impossible for DC leadership not to know what she’s doing.”
“It was a tough primary but we’re looking forward to everyone coalescing around her and putting the primary behind us,” said Evan Brown, executive director of the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC.
Meanwhile, in Michigan, progressives are fuming that the House Democrats’ campaign arm has refused to publicly promote left-wing Democrat, Will Lawrence, roughly a month after he won a nasty three-way primary there.
At issue: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has so far declined to add Lawrence to a coveted list of their priority House candidates, in part out of deference to leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus, multiple people involved in discussions about the issue told CNN.
The CBC has yet to endorse Lawrence after their public battle with him during the primary over his 2024 comments criticizing Black political leaders. Lawrence, a White climate activist who recently let his DSA membership lapse, came under fire from senior Black Democrats, including Jeffries and Meeks for saying Black political leaders “defang the White left.”
Lawrence, in previous interviews with CNN, has apologized for his “choice of words” in that statement. And some House progressives are “absolutely apoplectic” that party leaders have not yet backed him, according to one of those people.
“We’re working on a path forward when it comes to being able to support him,” a Black Caucus strategist with knowledge of the situation told CNN.
The list, run by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is effectively seen as a “stamp of approval” from party leaders — a flashing sign for party groups and donors to put their support behind the strongest candidates. Lawrence’s absence, progressives say, is depriving him of a big fundraising boost to help defeat GOP Rep. Tom Barrett.
The flare-up in Michigan comes after party leaders did get behind a slew of other progressive candidates in key races – including some who defeated party-preferred candidates – such as Randy Villegas in a pivotal California swing seat.
The DCCC and Lawrence’s campaign declined to comment. But one person familiar with the inner-workings of the DCCC told CNN that the group has been “working every day” with Lawrence’s team to defeat Barrett in November.
Meeks, who runs the Black Caucus’s PAC, said he’s had “good conversations” with Lawrence over the phone and is looking forward to sitting down with him in Washington soon.
“We’ll talk. I think we’re going to get that resolved,” he said. “If you look at him, compared to who he’s running against, we want him to win.”
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