The prospect of another Black president has Congressional Black Caucus members predictably excited. But as the CBC prepares itself for a potential Kamala Harris administration, some members are also reckoning with the fact that Harris in the White House may not mean all that much for their organization.
“Been there, done that,” one source close to the CBC told NOTUS, referring to Barack Obama’s presidency.
Instead, this source said, it was a much bigger deal that Democrats could have Hakeem Jeffries leading the House.
“The fact that Hakeem Jeffries has an opportunity to be speaker of the House is more valuable to the CBC than having a Black president,” the source continued.
“Their power is not from 1600 Pennsylvania; their power is from the speaker’s office,” the source said. “That controls the purse strings.”
Harris is far from locking up the White House, and CBC members are very much interested in helping her secure the presidency in any way they can. But as Harris tries to make the race more about Donald Trump than herself — and ignores the historical weight of potentially becoming the first female president, let alone the first Black female president — some CBC members are feeling like Harris may keep Black lawmakers at a distance.
Harris has generally avoided touting her race. On the campaign trail, she rarely mentions her experience as a former CBC member and always seemed a bit hesitant to present herself first and foremost as a Black lawmaker when she was in the Senate.
That is leading some members to believe the CBC may actually have had more influence with Joe Biden, particularly because Rep. Jim Clyburn played such an instrumental role in Biden’s victory.
Biden may not communicate directly with many lawmakers, but Clyburn was always high on the list, and their close relationship, some members feel, resulted in the CBC’s top priorities becoming some of Biden’s hallmark legislative victories.
That isn’t to say a President Harris would ever be questioning where the CBC stands on any given issue.
“She knows there will never be a night during her presidency where she goes to bed and says, ‘I wonder what they’re thinking about on this particular issue,’” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver told NOTUS.
But if Harris wins, many Democrats believe their party will also take back the House, leading to a Jeffries speakership. And that, the source close to the CBC said, would be a much bigger deal than a Harris presidency.
“Imagine the person who controls the appropriations process for Black folk and the money that’s spent in Black communities and rural communities. That’s way more important,” the source said.
Harris’ campaign didn’t speak much to her relationship with the CBC besides calling it a “yearslong partnership” that Harris looked forward to continuing to “lower costs for the American people, boost the middle class, and fight for our fundamental freedoms.”
“It’s why she’s dedicated to defeating Donald Trump, electing a Democratic majority in the House with Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker, and defending a Democratic majority in the Senate with Chuck Schumer as Majority Leader,” a campaign spokesperson said.
But the campaign connected NOTUS with current CBC chair Steven Horsford, who described the premise of this story as nonsensical.
“I don’t know who the sources are, but unless they want to name themselves, they should not be substantiated whatsoever in an article or in any regard,” he told NOTUS. “Because it’s really hogwash.”
Harris did deliver a keynote speech at the CBC’s Phoenix Awards Dinner Saturday evening, in which she detailed a list of issues she’s worked closely on with CBC members. She also thanked them for their “partnership and leadership.”
“Over the years we have worked so closely together on so many important issues from addressing the crisis of maternal mortality to expanding access to capital for small businesses to defending the sacred freedom to vote,” she said. “And I thank you CBC, always, for that partnership and your leadership as a proud, I’m going to say, still member of CBC.”
While Rep. Troy Carter — another member of CBC leadership — avoided mentioning the CBC directly, he emphasized the importance of Democrats taking back the House.
“Anytime we have a speaker, we’re going to get the gavel back,” he told NOTUS. “We’re going to have greater influence with the White House, be it a Democrat or a Republican. We will have the opportunity to have those better assignments, better positioning and better opportunity to advance policy that’s important to our caucus.”
When NOTUS pressed Carter specifically on whether Black lawmakers believed a Jeffries speakership uniquely benefited CBC members — in terms of committee assignments and the ability to raise money — Carter wasn’t shy.
“Well, absolutely,” he said.
Other CBC members, on the record and on background, noted that Jeffries would be a huge help to the caucus. But they also said they were concentrating on getting Harris elected as well.
“Everyone is focused on just winning,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove told NOTUS.
When NOTUS asked Kamlager-Dove what CBC members thought of one of their own becoming speaker and what it would mean for members’ potential upward mobility in Washington, she said she was sure “there are those conversations happening, and strategic people and people in leadership are probably even having them.”
But she said she was not one of them.
“I have not been engaging in those conversations, and I have not heard of those conversations,” she said.
It was a similar story for another senior member of the CBC, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“I haven’t heard it,” this member said. “I just think the key is to get her elected, right?”
Rep. Emilia Sykes said she “looked forward” to electing a speaker who could “actually unify this country” and be beneficial to her constituents asking for “us to lower costs and keep our communities safe.”
Jeffries becoming speaker, Sykes said, “opens up the opportunities for there to be a functioning government, which means that there are opportunities to excel.”
“It is always a pleasure to be able to make history, to see history being made,” she said. “But it is also even better to have competent, compassionate, charismatic leaders who are in these roles.”
Still, some members did note how there were downstream effects to Harris being in power. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who had a prominent speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention last month, told NOTUS she had already noticed party insiders taking her more seriously since the DNC.
“I look at it as a potential asset,” Crockett told NOTUS. “It’s like, if the vice president trusts her, they’re watching.”
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Tinashe Chingarande is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
This story has been updated with Harris’ comments from the CBC awards dinner.