--- description: Find out why Hakeem Jeffries is one of the 100 most influential people of 2023. title: Hakeem Jeffries: The 100 Most Influential People of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac28710d2fa84fe9/698a3bca01168268e2982e8c/Hakeem-Jeffries-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 13, 2023 # Hakeem Jeffries by Nancy Pelosi  UNITED STATES - JANUARY 19: House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., conducts a news conference after a meeting of the caucus in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, January 19, 2022\. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images) UNITED STATES - JANUARY 19: House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., conducts a news conference after a meeting of the caucus in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, January 19, 2022\. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)Tom Williams—CQ Roll Call/AP [Hakeem Jeffries](https://time.com/6243296/hakeem-jeffries-first-congress/ "undefined") became Democratic leader with the enthusiastic, unified support of House Democrats. With his rousing opening remarks on the House floor, that support caught fire with Democrats and others across the country. Every day, [Hakeem leads](https://time.com/6248644/hakeem-jeffries-leadership-kappa-alpha-psi-fraternity/ "undefined") with his values and vision, his knowledge and strategic thinking—always putting people over politics. In becoming the first ever Black congressional leader, Hakeem has made history. Under his leadership, Democrats will make progress. Leader Jeffries is already doing a terrific job in the fight for Democratic values and against Republican extremism. The challenge is great. But I know the job, I know Hakeem, and I know he will succeed. Leader Jeffries is a person of faith, patriotism, and respect for the oath we take to protect and defend our Constitution. Our entire country will benefit from his new leadership—and one day very soon, he will be an excellent Speaker of the House! _Pelosi, a Democrat, is Speaker Emerita of the_ _House of Representatives_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269849/hakeem-jeffries/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269849/hakeem-jeffries/"},"headline":"Hakeem Jeffries","datePublished":"2023-04-13T10:32:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:06.968Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269849/hakeem-jeffries/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","sponsorshipblock","TIME100 2023"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac28710d2fa84fe9/698a3bca01168268e2982e8c/Hakeem-Jeffries-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac28710d2fa84fe9/698a3bca01168268e2982e8c/Hakeem-Jeffries-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269849/hakeem-jeffries/","name":"Hakeem Jeffries"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 | The 100 Most Influential People of 2023","description":"See all the people on Time's 2023 Time 100 list","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/P6RIsapV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-04-13T10:30:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/P6RIsapV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269849/hakeem-jeffries/","duration":"PT1M53S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269849/hakeem-jeffries/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```