Memo to Hakeem Jeffries: Change Means Doing Things Differently

Across the country, Democrats are voting out the let’s-make-a-deal generation of politicians in favor of the get-shit-done kind. Jeffries undermined that by meeting with Jared Kushner.

Edwin Eisendrath is the former CEO of the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Alderman who hosts It’s The Democracy Stupid on Lincoln Square and a weekly radio show on WCPT820AM/ Heartland Signal. Subscribe to his Substack.

Like millions of Americans, I am out here fighting for Democrats in elections across the country because they are, at this moment, the best hope for saving our democracy and rebuilding a government that works for every American.

I fully support a broad slate of candidates — even some with whom I disagree. And I counsel people everywhere to focus their anger and frustration where it belongs — squarely on the shoulders of Donald Trump and his Republican Party. Then Hakeem Jeffries does something so stupid and counterproductive that it has to be called out.

The New York Times reports that Mr. Jeffries met with Jared Kushner for a private meeting to discuss a “broad range of topics” because “those around Mr. Trump were well aware of the likelihood of a Democratic-led House, and trying to foster as much of a working relationship as possible before any change.”

By agreeing to this “private” meeting, the otherwise sober Jeffries gave the administration a political gift and undermined efforts at governing and accountability.

Politically, he badly misread the moment. Across the country, Democrats are voting out the let’s-make-a-deal generation of politicians in favor of the get-shit-done kind. The idea that any progress can come from meeting with a feckless negotiator from the most dishonest and discredited administration in American history has been completely rejected by voters in the primaries. Ignoring that, Mr. Jeffries pretends there’s still legitimacy in business as usual and undermines the millions of Americans who have given so much this primary season.

Mr. Jeffries should have said, “If you want to meet, first rescind the executive order telling the postal service not to deliver votes from democratic districts.” That, at least, would have tested the administration’s sincerity in reaching out. It would have sent a much-needed message that we are all on the same team and that House leadership got the message from millions of primary voters who do not trust the Trump Administration and who do love our democracy. It almost certainly would have gotten no response and thus confirmed what he should already have known - this meeting offer was not made in good faith.

As for governing outcomes, the meeting is at best a waste of time. Kushner’s record as an emissary for his father-in-law, Mr. Trump, proves that he has nothing to offer and cannot deliver on promises made. In Iran, he held discussions aimed at an agreement on de-nuclearization, limiting the regime’s long-range missiles, and ending its support of terrorist proxies. While he was negotiating, Trump began bombing. So much for good faith. And the outcome? Trump bombed Iran, but the country he weakened was the United States.

In Gaza, Kushner took credit for driving the October 10, 2025 ceasefire deal along with a twenty-point redevelopment plan. Almost a year later, war continues in Gaza, and instead of redevelopment, there is just more destruction. Hamas is not disarmed. Israel has not withdrawn. People continue to be killed. An international stabilization force has not been identified, let alone deployed. Mr. Kushner is no more capable than he is reliable.

Kushner also spent months negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine. Do I even need to say it? He has nothing to show for it, except maybe that the United States rolled out the red carpet in Alaska for a summit with Putin.

With nothing to gain either politically or in outcomes for the American people, Jeffries sat down for a private meeting with Jared Kushner. Two people. Private meeting. And yet the New York Times reports they have three sources to describe that failure. Who benefits from outing a meeting that pretends things are business as usual? Not Jeffries and not Democrats. Bottom line: Jeffries achieved no political advantage, he gained no governing outcomes, but he managed to look like a dupe.

One final thought. This week, Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan penned a piece decrying government corruption and the over-empowerment of government. Good for her. But, like the Kushner meeting, the conservative’s timing is suspect. Where was she before it became apparent Americans are eager to vote for change? Nowhere. Just like the White House efforts to reach out to Democrats. Both Noonan’s piece and Kushner’s outreach should be seen as efforts to check the power of incoming Democrats rather than as any critique of their own abuses of power. Everyone outside of the bubble of Washington knows it. We remember what Republicans did in Wisconsin when their guy, Gov. Scott Walker, lost to Democrat Tony Evers in 2018.

Everywhere in America, voters are focused on the damage Trump and the Republicans have wrought. It would be helpful if leaders in the Democratic Party read the room.

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