See moments from House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries' political career

“I think we've got to be concerned that guardrails that are rigid are put into place, so that we don't see rogue AI agents behaving in a manner inconsistent with human values,” Jeffries said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks to reporters outside of his office on Sept. 17, 2026 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. Jeffries discussed holding U.S. President Donald Trump accountable, corruption, and the cost of living for Americans and other topics. Also pictured is Puck News Capitol Hill correspondent Marianna Sotomayor (L).

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, joined by fellow House Democrats, speaks at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington, DC.

(L-R) Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) hold hands while praying during an unveiling ceremony for a statue of civil rights leader Barbara Rose Johns in Emancipation Hall in the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center on Dec. 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. In 1951, 16-year-old Johns led a walkout at her segregated Virginia high school to protest poor conditions for Black students. Johns will represent the state of Virginia as a replacement for a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee which was removed in 2020.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speak after an event on the House steps on Nov. 12, 2025, in Washington, DC.

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks to members of the media about the ongoing Congressional government shutdown negotiations outside of the U.S. Capitol Building on Oct. 9, 2025 in Washington, DC. The government remains shut down after Congress failed to reach a funding deal last week.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks during a press conference in the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 3, 2026 in Washington, DC. Jeffries addressed the Republicans' midterm convention in Dallas and President Trump's plans to campaign for candidates across the country.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York speaks during a press conference on the steps of the US Capitol after the Senate passed the "Big Beautiful Bill Act" earlier in the day in Washington, DC, on July 2, 2025. The Republican-led US Senate approved President Donald Trump's mammoth domestic policy bill July 1, 2024 by the narrowest of margins, despite misgivings over delivering deep welfare cuts and another $3 trillion in national debt. Republican leaders had struggled to corral support during a record 24-hour "vote-a-rama" amendment session on the Senate floor, as Democrats offered dozens of challenges to the most divisive aspects of the package.

House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), joined by fellow Democrats, speaks out against the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act at a press conference outside of the U.S. Capitol on July 2, 2025 in Washington, DC. House Republicans continue their work to pass the Senate version of The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act, President Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and other House Democrats take to the steps to speak out against the Republican budget plan on Feb. 25, 2025 in Washington.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, left, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington, DC.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hands Speaker of the House Mike Johnson the gavel during the first session of the 119th Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Jan. 3, 2025.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 21, 2024.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks during a press conference with other House Democrats on June 27, 2024 in Washington, DC. House Democrats are marking two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs decision, allowing states to enact abortion access restrictions.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.,left, hands the gavel to the newly elected Speaker of the House, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La. Johnson was the fourth candidate nominated by the GOP for the role after Speaker Kevin McCarthy was voted out of the job on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023 in a move led by a group of hardline House conservatives.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries takes questions with Rep. Pete Aguilar, (D-CA), left, and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA),right, as he holds a press conference on May 31, 2023 after meeting with House Democrats regarding the debt ceiling and the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) talks with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) after the thirteenth vote for Speaker of the House on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023 as Republicans take over the U.S. House of Representatives with a slim majority.

Outgoing US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (L), Democrat of California, greets Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York, after speaking in the House Chamber at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on November 17, 2022. Pelosi, 82, the trailblazing first female speaker of the House, said that she will step down from the party leadership when Republicans take control of the chamber in January 2023. "For me, the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect," said Pelosi, who first became speaker in 2007.

Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) holds a phone to take a picture with U.S. Reps. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Brenda Lawrence (D-MI) as they wait for the start of U.S. President Joe Biden's State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress in the U.S. Capitol’s House Chamber March 1, 2022 in Washington, DC. During his first State of the Union address Biden spoke on his administration’s efforts to lead a global response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, efforts to curb inflation and bringing the country out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At right, House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) departs a leadership election meeting with the Democratic caucus in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill Nov. 30, 2022 in Washington, DC. Jeffries is expected to become the leading Democrat in the House after Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) steps down from leadership.

Chairman of the Democratic Caucus Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks at a press conference Dec. 8, 2020 in Washington, DC. Jeffries and Rep. Pete Aguilar answered a range of questions at the press conference.

From left, Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., Rep. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo.(behind Lofgren), Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., walk through the rotunda on their way to the Senate at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 16, 2020.

12/12/19 6:26:31 PM -- Washington, DC -- Ranking Member Doug Collins, R-GA, center, speaks with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. during the House Judiciary Committee markup of H.Res. 755, Articles of Impeachment Against President Donald J. Trump in Washington, DC on Dec. 12, 2019. -- Photo by Jack Gruber, USA TODAY Staff ORG XMIT: JG 138448 Judiciary Commit 12/11/2019 (Via OlyDrop)