Jeffries' job grows more difficult in race for House and speaker's gavel

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., describes the Democrats’ fight to regain the House majority even as Republicans pursue redistricting efforts across the South following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that affects majority-Black congressional districts, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries had warned Republicans they would come to regret the congressional redistricting fight, and when Democrats counterpunched last month with a redrawn Virginia map, he had made his point.

The net tally of seats gained and lost was essentially a wash.

“F— around and find out,” said Jeffries after the election victory.

But in a matter of days, the race for control of the House — and the speaker’s gavel — was dramatically reset by back-to-back court rulings that wiped out the Democratic gains in Virginia and now threaten to erode Black representation by Democrats in the Deep South.