House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is struggling to find his footing in a Republican-controlled Washington, D.C., amid frustration within the Democratic Party that he's not delivering Pelosi-style resistance to the Trump administration.
As President Donald Trump began his first term eight years ago, then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., led an organized column of resistance against the new Republican commander in chief.
Since Trump won his second White House term, however, things on Capitol Hill have radically changed for House Democrats, especially for Jeffries, who has succeeded Pelosi as the Democrats' leader in the lower chamber.
Instead of the unity that Pelosi commanded, Jeffries' party is now deeply divided about how to stymie Trump, who just received his highest approval ratings ever.
At a press conference on Friday, Jeffries said Republicans "control the House, the Senate, and the presidency."
"It's their government," he said. "What leverage do we have? We are going to try to find bipartisan common ground on any issue."
Jeffries' remarks are the latest indication that he is trying to focus more on the economy in an effort to course correct after voters dealt his party devastating losses in November.
"I think we all have to do a better job of meeting the needs of everyday Americans who are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck," Jeffries told NPR shortly after Trump's victory last year. "And we have to deal with it, and we have to deal with it in as decisive a way possible, hopefully not as Democrats, independents, or Republicans, but as Americans."
Complicating matters for Jeffries are the centrist Blue Dog Democrats, who have supported Trump's border policies such as "Remain in Mexico." Last month, 48 House Democrats crossed the aisle to pass the Trump-backed immigration reform measure known as the Laken Riley Act.
Additionally, Jeffries is grappling with Trump's soaring popularity after winning the Electoral College, the popular vote, all seven battleground states, and helping Republicans recapture control of the House and Senate.
But Jeffries has not abandoned all attempts at resistance, announcing a task force on Monday to support lawsuits against the White House. On Tuesday, he roundly condemned Trump's actions at a protest in Washington.
"I wanted to make sure I crossed the street to make it clear that the attack on you, the attack on the civil service is unacceptable, unconscionable, un-American, and we are going to stand with you until each and every one of those unlawful executive orders are fully and completely reversed, buried in the ground, never to rise again," Jeffries told protesters near the Capitol.
None of his actions come close to Pelosi's zeal as she pursued Trump during his first term, however.
In addition to once calling the president "morbidly obese," Pelosi accused Trump of colluding with Russia to win the 2016 election, claimed he attempted to win the 2020 election by conspiring with Ukraine, and infamously tore up his State of the Union speech on live television in 2020 as she sat behind him.
She led two impeachment inquiries against Trump as speaker of the House and also spearheaded the Jan. 6 House Select Committee that found the president had incited unrest at the Capitol building that day.
Some within Jeffries' party, like Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., are pushing him to be more forceful in his response to Trump.
"For me, there is a bright line when it comes to the Constitution," Kim told the New Jersey Globe. "The American people, they're like, 'Are you going to find bipartisanship? Do you think Trump has a mandate?' None of that matters when it comes to the Constitution. No mandate from the people can give Trump the power to be able to override our Constitution."