He raised the money and won the House. He also took checks from Palantir and Anduril executives, sat down with Jared Kushner, and let the Hegseth impeachment die unwhipped. Let him run the floor. Don't hand him the gavel.
This is an opinion of Florida Man News Network.
By Joseph J. Jackson | Florida Man News Network | Nov. 11, 2026
The short version
Executives at Palantir and Anduril, and AIPAC's PAC, have put hundreds of thousands of dollars into Hakeem Jeffries' committees this cycle, according to FEC filings reviewed by Sludge. In August he met privately with Jared Kushner.
On Nov. 10, his leadership didn't whip the Hegseth impeachment vote. It died 211–204 with 11 Democrats absent.
The Speaker controls what gets investigated. The Majority Leader controls what gets voted on. House Democrats pick their leaders Nov. 18–19. Give Jeffries the second job.
Hakeem Jeffries won the House. Give him credit for it, and give him a job. Just not the one that decides whether Donald Trump's donors get subpoenaed.
House Democrats hold their closed-door leadership elections Nov. 18–19, and the full House votes for Speaker when the new Congress convenes in January, according to Axios. There are two top jobs, and they are not the same job. The Speaker runs the institution: committee referrals, the oversight calendar, the rules, and who sits second in line to the presidency. The Majority Leader runs the floor: what comes up for a vote and when. Jeffries told Morning Joe his plan is to "govern on affordability." (Fox 5 NY) Fine. That is a floor job. Let him have it.
Tuesday night showed the problem
On Tuesday night, Republicans buried eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, 211–204. Eleven Democrats didn't vote. Democratic leaders didn't whip it; critics said members were told to vote their conscience, even though Jeffries says he supports impeaching Hegseth. (FMNN)
Be fair about the math: seven Republicans skipped it too, and with all 18 absent members voting with their parties, the motion likely still passes, 218–215. But that's the point. The Speaker's job is to decide which fights get the full weight of the caucus. On the first accountability vote after the election, the answer was: not this one.
First, the facts. The viral post gets some wrong.
A message going around tells people to call the Capitol switchboard because Jeffries "received money from Palantir," a company "owned by Peter Thiel of Project 2025." Here's what the record actually shows:
The money is real, but it came from executives, not the company. Corporations can't give directly to candidates. FEC filings reviewed by Sludge show a Palantir government-affairs executive gave $44,300 to Jeffries' fundraising committees this cycle. (Sludge) An earlier $25,000 from Palantir executives was put to Jeffries on camera in February. He said he didn't believe he'd taken Palantir money and would look. (Prem Thakker) Asked again about the $44,000, he said, "We'll look into that." (David Moore) Nine months later, no refund has been reported.
Thiel doesn't "own" Palantir. He co-founded it in 2003 and has chaired its board since. It's a publicly traded company. The real story is bigger than one man: Palantir runs ICE's surveillance contracts and DOGE's data work, and its executives are writing checks to the likely next Speaker.
Thiel is not "of Project 2025." Project 2025 is a Heritage Foundation project. Thiel's name is not on it. He bankrolled JD Vance and the broader movement, which is damning enough without inventing a title.
The Kushner meeting happened. The New York Times broke it in August; NBC, CNN, ABC and CBS confirmed it. (Straight Arrow News) Jeffries said Kushner asked for it and they discussed "the affordability crisis." (CNN via News 5 Cleveland) Kushner suggested he next meet with chief of staff Susie Wiles. (Boston Globe)
Get the facts right and the argument gets stronger, not weaker.
The rest of the donor list
Palantir is the headline. It's not the whole receipt.
Anduril CEO Brian Schimpf and COO Matthew Grimm gave $144,300. AIPAC's PAC moved more than $427,000 in earmarked donations to three Jeffries committees through September. His donors include the head of a crypto advocacy group and investment executives at Bain Capital, D.E. Shaw and Renaissance Technologies. (Sludge)
Every one of those industries has business in front of the committees the Speaker controls. Palantir and Anduril hold the contracts Democrats promised to investigate. Crypto wants a light touch from Financial Services. AIPAC wants the Israel aid votes Jeffries already protected when he opposed the Massie amendment in July. (Sludge)
For who pays for the politics in your feed, see The Price List, Part 1 of our FMNN Investigates series.
What the Speaker actually does
The Speaker doesn't just bang a gavel. The Speaker decides, with the Oversight and Judiciary chairs, which investigations get staff, subpoenas and floor time. The Speaker decides whether an impeachment inquiry opens. The Speaker is the person Kushner was really meeting.
The morning after the biggest Democratic House win in decades, Jeffries said: "The American people don't want us to get even." (Fox 5 NY) Nobody asked for revenge. Voters asked for the hearings Republicans refused to hold for two years. The man who takes that question and hears "revenge" shouldn't be the man scheduling the hearings.
The case for keeping him
Be fair to him. Jeffries held a fractured caucus together in the minority, out-raised Republicans, and delivered a majority of more than 250 seats, large enough to pass bills without either wing's permission. (Axios) He has never had a House Democrat defect from him in a Speaker vote. He's disciplined. He stays on message. He wants to pass affordability legislation.
That is a precise description of a Majority Leader. Steny Hoyer did that job for Nancy Pelosi for eight years. The floor needs a manager. Oversight needs a prosecutor. Democrats just elected enough members to have both.
What members should do
An online petition urging House Democrats not to make Jeffries Speaker passed 1 million signatures on Nov. 7. (Truthout/Common Dreams) One incoming Democrat told Axios their office got about 150 calls urging a vote against him. Several incoming members have declined to commit to him. (Fox News)
They don't have to blow up the caucus. They have to ask for two things: a real vote with more than one name on the ballot, and a Speaker who has never taken a dime from Palantir, Anduril or AIPAC and has never met privately with the Trump family. Then nominate Jeffries for Majority Leader and let him pass the affordability bills he ran on.
Their side, and the record
Their claim: Jeffries is the overwhelming favorite and the caucus is behind him.
The record: True. House Democrats told Axios the odds of anyone else are "none." Nobody has declared against him. A favorite is still not a mandate, and an uncontested vote isn't a debate.
Their claim: The donations are legal and routine.
The record: True. So is asking a Speaker candidate to return them. He was asked twice and said he'd look. The filings are public.
Their claim: Meeting Kushner was good governance ahead of divided government.
The record: Maybe. Then take the meeting as Majority Leader, in the open, with the Speaker's oversight team in the room.
Their claim: The Hegseth vote would have failed anyway.
The record: Probably, by three votes. Leaders still decide which losses they fight for with every member in the room.
Their claim: Passing over Jeffries denies the country its first Black Speaker.
The record: The House Democratic caucus is the most diverse in history. That history can be made by a member whose donor list doesn't include the companies the House is about to investigate.
Our take
Jeffries did the work to win. He should run the floor. The gavel, the subpoenas and the question of whether the Trump administration answers for the last two years should sit with someone who never sat down privately with Jared Kushner.
Call (202) 224-3121. Ask for your representative. Say you want a competitive Speaker vote at the Nov. 18–19 caucus elections, and you want Jeffries as Majority Leader. Both at once. That's not punishment. That's a job description.