WASHINGTON (AP) — House Leader Hakeem Jeffries won reelection Tuesday as the Democratic leader, receiving support from his colleagues despite the party's inability to win back majority control of the chamber in the November election.
Jeffries of New York was chosen during an internal party vote of the House Democrats underway at the Capitol. Most of the Democratic leadership team is expected to be reelected for the new Congress.
In line to become the House speaker, Jeffries remains the highest ranking Black elected official in Congress, and the first to hold the job of party leader.
He fell short of being in place to win the gavel after Republicans swept to power alongside President-elect Donald Trump, winning control of the White House, the Senate and the House.
While the Democratic leader will be the party’s nominee for House speaker, the gavel is expected to go to Speaker Mike Johnson as Republicans continue to hold the majority in the new year.
Jeffries and the House Democratic leadership works as a team — a trio of younger generation leaders that took over when Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi stepped aside from leadership two years ago. Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar of California also won their reelections on Tuesday.
House Democrats picked up a few seats in hard-fought regions, including Jeffries' home state of New York and in California. But they also lost seats elsewhere and failed to topple some GOP incumbents, and overall there was little change in the House.
Republicans under Johnson are left holding the majority by a so-slim margin — their numbers diminishing in the new year as Trump has tapped three GOP lawmakersElise Stefanik, Mike Waltz and Matt Gaetz to serve in his administration. Some need to be confirmed by the Senate.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine fired six American-supplied longer-range missiles at Russia’s Bryansk region, Moscow said Tuesday, in what would be Kyiv's first use of the weapons inside Russia in 1,000 days of war.
The reported use of the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, came as Russian President Vladimir Putin formally lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons, opening the door to a potential nuclear response by Moscow to even a conventional attack by any nation supported by a nuclear power. That could include Ukrainian attacks backed by the U.S.
A Telegram channel affiliated with the Ukrainian military posted a video Tuesday that it says shows a U.S.-supplied ATACMS missile being fired from an undisclosed location in Ukraine. The Associated Press could not independently verify the date and location the video was filmed.
The developments marked a worrying new escalation in the conflict that has repeatedly ratcheted up international tensions. U.S. officials recently expressed dismay at Russia’s deployment of North Korean troops to help it fight Ukraine, while Moscow seethed when Washington eased restrictions on the ATACMS in recent days.
The 1,000-day mark has magnified scrutiny of how the war is unfolding and how it might end, amid signs that a turning point may be coming with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump entering the White House in about two months’ time. Trump has pledged to swiftly end the war and has criticized the amount the U.S. has spent on supporting Ukraine.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine can sustain the war for a long time, analysts say, though Russia is able to keep going for longer due to its vaster resources.
Ukraine’s forces are under severe Russian pressure on the battlefield at places on the about 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line where its army is stretched thin. Ukrainian civilians, meanwhile, have repeatedly been clobbered by Russian drones and missiles.
On Tuesday, Ukraine claimed it hit a military weapons depot in Russia's Bryansk region in the middle of the night, though it didn't specify what weapons it used. The Ukrainian General Staff said that multiple explosions and detonations were heard in the targeted area, around Karachev.
In a statement carried by Russian news agencies, the Russian Defense Ministry said the military shot down five ATACMS missiles and damaged one more. The fragments fell on the territory of an unspecified military facility, the ministry said. The falling debris sparked a fire, but didn’t cause any damage or casualties, it said.
Neither side's claims could be independently verified.
Karachev is roughly 115 kilometers (70 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border. Ukraine in the course of the war has been able to reach much deeper into the vast country -- but with drones rather than missiles. For instance, Russian officials have reported intercepting Ukrainian drones over Moscow, which is about 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the border and most recently Izhevsk, a city about 1,450 kilometers (900 miles) from the frontier.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials reported a third Russian strike in as many days on a residential area in Ukraine killed at least 12 people, including a child.
The strike by a Shahed drone in the northern Sumy region late Monday hit a dormitory of an educational facility in the town of Hlukhiv and wounded 11 others, including two children, authorities said, adding that more people could be trapped under the rubble.
On Sunday, a Russian ballistic missile with cluster munitions struck a residential area of Sumy in northern Ukraine, killing 11 people and wounding 84 others. On Monday, a Russian missile barrage sparked apartment fires in the southern port of Odesa, killing at least 10 people and wounding 43.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the series of aerial strikes proved that Putin wasn't interested in ending the war.
“Each new attack by Russia only confirms Putin’s true intentions. He wants the war to continue. Talks about peace are not interesting to him. We must force Russia to a just peace by force,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy told European Union lawmakers in a speech via video link that Russia has deployed about 11,000 North Korean troops along Ukraine’s borders and that the number could swell to 100,000.
He appeared in person at the Ukrainian parliament, where he presented what he called a “resilience plan” to dig in against the relentless Russian onslaught. He said he expects pivotal moments to occur in the war next year.
The plan outlines new approaches to army management, including the creation of a military ombudsman position and a new system of handling military contracts.
There are no plans to lower the mobilization age from the current 25, even though Ukraine is short-handed on the front line, especially in infantry.
Next year, Ukraine plans to produce at least 30,000 long-range drones and aims to manufacture 3,000 long-range missiles, Zelenskyy said, reducing its dependence on Western military support.
A fuller version of the plan will be presented next month, he said.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Western countries are debating further help for Ukraine — “more aid, more money we have to make available to them, particularly now that the North Koreans have come on board,” he said in Brussels.
Meanwhile, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola led a special plenary session on Ukraine marking “one thousand days of terror, suffering and unimaginable loss. One thousand days of courage, resilience and unbreakable spirits.”
“Your people are an inspiration to all who value freedom around the world,” she told Zelenskyy.
Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this photo provided by the Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine on Nov. 19, 2024, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine General Oleksandr Syrskyi speaks to parliamentarians at Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Nov. 19, 2024, rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian strike in Hlukhiv, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Press Service of The President of Ukraine on Nov. 19, 2024, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to parliamentarians at Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Press Service of The President of Ukraine via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Nov. 19, 2024, rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian strike in Hlukhiv, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Nov. 19, 2024, rescue workers and volunteers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian strike in Hlukhiv, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
The graphic above shows the long-range U.S. ATACMS missile system components. The U.S. will allow Ukraine to use American-supplied longer-range weapons to conduct strikes inside Russian territory. (AP Digital Embed)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Nov. 19, 2024, rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian strike in Hlukhiv, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Nov. 19, 2024, rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian strike in Hlukhiv, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Nov. 19, 2024, rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian strike in Hlukhiv, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine on Nov. 19, 2024, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to parliamentarians at Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine via AP)
In this photo provided by the Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine on Nov. 19, 2024, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens to the national anthem before his speech at Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine via AP)
