Hakeem Sekou Jeffries ( hah-KEEM; born August 4, 1970) is an American politician and attorney who has served as House Minority Leader and Leader of the House Democratic Caucus since 2023. He has been the U.S. representative for New York's 8th congressional district since 2013 and was a member of the New York State Assembly from 2007 to 2012. Jeffries was born and raised in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. He attended law school at New York University, graduating with honors and becoming a successful corporate lawyer before running for elected office. Both his state assembly district and congressional district are anchored in Brooklyn. In Congress, Jeffries chaired the House Democratic Caucus from 2019 to 2023. The members of the caucus unanimously elected him to succeed Nancy Pelosi as leader in November 2022. This made him the first African American to lead a party in either chamber of the United States Congress.