House Democrats Try To Get Their Act Together Following Joint Session Fiasco

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and others in House Democratic leadership wanted a “solemn” response to President Donald Trump’s address to Congress from their caucus last week. What they got instead was chanting, sign-waving, walkouts and the first-ever ejection of a member from a joint session.

Now Jeffries & Co. have another chance to get their members on the same page.

House Democrats are headed into their annual policy retreat Wednesday looking for a reset as they try to close gaping divides over the party’s messaging and strategy — and regroup ahead of the 2026 midterms, where they have to flip only a handful of seats to regain the majority.

The challenge they will face head-on at a suburban Washington resort is straightforward: How do they channel the anti-Trump energy of the Democratic base — and many of their members — while setting out methods, messages and tactics calibrated to persuade the swing voters they need to win?

Last week’s angry outbursts put matters into stark relief for many members, who were frustrated at how some of their colleagues treated the address — and their leaders’ directives.

“I think it showed a party that wasn't unified. I think we had clear direction from our leadership on how to conduct ourselves,” said Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.). “So I would hope that we talk about that this week.”

There’s no mistaking where Jeffries’ sympathies lie in the tug-of-war between party factions. The Brooklynite has long been an adherent of finely tuned responses to Trump and Republican leaders, and many of the voices that Democratic lawmakers will hear from Wednesday and Thursday are officeholders and strategists who have tacked to the center.

They include three Democratic governors from states won by Trump in 2024 — Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania — who are set to share their insights in a Thursday night conversation with Jeffries. Presidential pundits including James Carville, Bill Clinton’s strategy maven, and Dan Pfeiffer, Barack Obama’s comms brain, will advise members about getting their messaging back on track.

Still, the party is under immense pressure from its most loyal voters to put up a more determined front against Trump and his dramatic overhaul of his federal government. Some members who have tried to harness that energy say they are looking to Jeffries to not only deliver a more finely honed strategy but also elevate leaders in the Democratic caucus who are more attuned to what the party base is demanding.

“It's kind of like a football team, and Hakeem is our quarterback, but Hakeem can't throw the ball and go catch the ball and run the ball down the field and protect the line,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), a breakout figure among the caucus’ young, liberal cadre. “He can’t do it all.”

In an early sign of the stiffening resistance, House Democratic leaders whipped votes and put up mostly unanimous opposition to a Republican-led government funding bill Tuesday afternoon.

“The strong House Democratic vote in opposition to this reckless Republican spending bill speaks for itself,” Jeffries said after the vote, where only Rep. Jared Golden of Maine crossed party lines to support it.

Liberals — many of whom defied a leadership request not to bring props to the address and held up signs criticizing Trump’s speech — will still have a voice at the conference, to be sure.

Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, will help introduce a panel on “Understanding the Evolving Democratic Coalition” and said the retreat should be focused on finding ways to reach the working class, not on the ideological differences within the party.

“No matter where you fall inside ideologically in the Democratic family, I think there is an acknowledgement that we've been losing working class voters and that we must regain them through message and substance,” Casar said.

Still, some Democrats argue that some forms of protest can shift the conversation away from the issues they need to focus on to reach the working class.

“A lot of time spent talking about the [address] is time that is off message,” said Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.). “Let's talk about protests, but for God's sake, let's talk about the economy and kitchen table issues.”

Other members were confident that their time at the Lansdowne, located on the Potomac River about 25 miles from Washington, would ultimately bring them together. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) said he has attended the party retreat every year in his two decades in office and “it has created a sense of unity, even [if] before our arrival, we had some disagreements internally.”