With Election Day closing in, Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the top Democrat in the U.S. House, on Friday announced his support for Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist state lawmaker from the New York City borough of Queens, in a statement to the New York Times.

“Zohran Mamdani has relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and explicitly committed to being a mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy,” Jeffries said.

Jeffries added: “In that spirit, I support him and the entire citywide Democratic ticket in the general election.”

MAMDANI LANDS CRUCIAL ENDORSEMENT IN NYC MAYORAL SHOWDOWN

Democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, speaks at an endorsement event from the union DC 37 on July 15, 2025, in New York City.  (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Jeffries acknowledged in his statement that he has “areas of principled disagreement” with Mamdani.

Jeffries, whose congressional district covers much of neighboring Brooklyn, becomes the second major New York State Democrat to back Mamdani, following a late September endorsement from Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The endorsement from Jeffries comes the day before early voting begins in New York City on Saturday.

The top two Democrats in the New York State legislature backed Mamdani days after the governor announced her support.

The endorsements from Jeffries and Hochul may put intense pressure on longtime Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who is the top Democrat in the Senate, to also back Mamdani in an election that is a little over a week away.

Mamdani shocked the political world in June with his convincing win over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates to capture the Democratic Party’s mayoral nomination in the nation’s most populous city.

The Ugandan-born Mamdani, if elected, would become the first Muslim and first millennial mayor of the nation’s most populous city. He is the clear frontrunner in the latest public opinion polls in the mayoral race in the Democrat-dominated city.

Mamdani is sitting on a large double-digit lead over Cuomo in the latest New York City public opinion polls.

TRUMP REVEALS NEW NICKNAME FOR MAMDANI

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during his weekly press conference in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu/Getty Images)

Guardian Angels co-founder Curtis Sliwa, who for a second straight election is the Republican mayoral nominee in the Democrat-dominated city, is a distant third in the polls.

New York’s current mayor, the embattled incumbent Eric Adams, had decided to run as an independent but announced late last month that he would no longer pursue the office amid anemic polling. President Donald Trump’s advisors had floated administration roles for both mayoral hopefuls.

This week, Adams endorsed Cuomo, even though the two had repeatedly clashed earlier this year on the campaign trail.

POLL POSITION: JUST HOW LARGE IS MAMDANI’S LEAD IN THE NYC MAYORAL RACE?

New York City mayoral candidates, from left to right: Zohran Mamdani, Eric Adams, Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa. (Getty Images)

Mamdani surged to the Democratic primary victory thanks to an energetic campaign that put a major focus on affordability and New York City’s high cost of living. It was fueled by a massive grassroots army of supporters and backing from top national progressive champions, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Mamdani made smart use of social media platforms, including TikTok, as he engaged low-propensity voters. He proposed eliminating fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children up to age 5 and setting up government-run grocery stores.

Mamdani has been heavily criticized by his rivals for his far-left platform, as well as his verbal attacks on Israel, his past critical comments about the New York City Police Department (NYPD), and his proposal to shift certain responsibilities away from the NYPD and focus on social services and community-based programs.

“Assemblyman Mamdani has promised to focus on keeping every New Yorker safe, including the Jewish community that has confronted a startling rise in antisemitic incidents as well as Black and Latino neighborhoods that have battled deadly gun violence for years,” Jeffries said in his statement on Friday.

Trump, a native New Yorker who now calls Florida home, has derided Mamdani ever since his primary victory as a “communist” and earlier this month came up with a new derogatory nickname.

“I call him my little communist. He’s my little communist mayor,” Trump said during an extended Fox News interview on “Fox and Friends.”

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Republicans have worked overtime the past three months to anchor the mayoral nominee to vulnerable congressional Democrats up for re-election in next year’s midterms.

“‘Leader’ Hakeem Jeffries just bent the knee to the socialist left, and now the only place he’s leading his party is down a cold, dark tunnel toward electoral humiliation. Every single Democrat owns the socialist agenda and is now a willing accomplice in their own party’s collapse,” National Republican Congressional Committee national press secretary Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital in a statement.

Jeffries met with Mamdani for the first time in July, with a second meeting last month. While Jeffries praised Mamdani’s affordability emphasis on the campaign trail, neither meeting resulted in an endorsement.

Most House Democrats, including many progressives, have given Jeffries plenty of latitude and have declined to criticize his lack of an endorsement.

Among the exceptions is Ocasio-Cortez, who said earlier this summer that “we use our primaries to settle our differences, and once we have a nominee, we rally behind that nominee,”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, a former House Democrat, similarly chastised congressional leaders for failing to rally around Mamdani.

While Jeffries joins Hochul in endorsing Mamdani, New York State Democratic Party chair Jay Jacobs said that he — as an individual — wouldn’t endorse his party’s mayoral nominee.

And Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, whose suburban swing congressional district includes a small portion of Queens, has previously announced that he wouldn’t support Mamdani.

Rumors of the Friday endorsement earned immediate criticism from Republicans suggesting that Jeffries is succumbing to pressure from his far-left base to endorse Mamdani despite his socialist policies that will certainly become a target during next year’s midterms.

“Hakeem is bending the knee!!!,” Maureen O’Toole, National Republican Congressional Committee Eastern Regional press secretary, posted on X.

Mamdani released a statement on Friday afternoon welcoming the support from Jeffries.

“This campaign has always been about bringing people together to improve the quality of life for every New Yorker,” Mamdani said.

“I welcome Leader Jeffries’ support and look forward to delivering a city government, and building a Democratic Party, relentlessly committed to our affordability agenda — and to fighting Trump’s authoritarianism. Our movement to turn the page on the politics of big money and small ideas grows stronger by the day.”

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast.”

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Military families are struggling with the uncertainty that this shutdown has brought and hoping that relief comes soon. Many services are temporarily closed on military bases, with the shutdown affecting families that had been in the process of moving across the country and the globe in the service of their country.

Republicans have repeatedly offered and voted in favor of a clean continuing resolution to fund the government with no partisan policy riders. But their opponents won’t budge.

SOCIAL SECURITY, AIRPORTS, FOOD STAMPS: HOW ARE YOU AFFECTED DURING A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN?

The government shutdown began Oct. 1, with U.S. troops among the most affected. Approximately 1.3 million active-duty troops, including active-duty National Guard and reserve personnel, began the shutdown continuing to work with no pay, but President Donald Trump’s order “to use all available funds to get our Troops PAID on October 15” ended this concern, at least, with many troops receiving their paychecks with repurposed research money.

Paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division load an Airforce C-17 Globemaster aircraft to conduct Operation Panther Storm in March at Fort Bragg. (U.S. Army/Sgt. Taylor Hoganson)

Despite troops receiving these emergency repurposed paychecks on Oct. 15, the general anxiety among service members during the shutdown is reflected by a 30% increase in demand this month throughout the country at the Armed Services YMCA, which runs nearly two dozen food banks near military installations across the United States. At some food banks, demand is so high that they must close early because they run out of food. At others, lines have begun forming more than six hours before the food banks open for the day.

Additionally, despite Trump’s order that ensures troops are paid in the meantime, the U.S. military is still under heavy stress, especially at military bases abroad, where service members and their families depend far more on-base services than military families stationed in the United States do. Many of these military facilities abroad have had to temporarily close services because of Schumer’s shutdown.

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Ramstein Air Base in Germany, for example, has temporarily closed its library, aquatics center, UNITE program for morale and recreation, Military and Family Readiness Center Spouse Hub, and civilian personnel office. Other U.S. military bases abroad with some services temporarily closed include RAF Lakenheath, U.S. Army Garrison Benelux, U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach, U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria, U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden and Naval Air Station Sigonella.

MORNING GLORY: SENATOR CHUCK SCHUMER MUST END HIS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Anyone familiar with the military lifestyle knows that frequent moves between bases located all over the globe are a recurring fact of life. Many troops and their families are currently struggling with Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders, as a U.S. Air Force official revealed that airmen who received PCS orders before Oct. 1 are allowed to continue relocating, but those who received orders after the shutdown started are on hold to move.

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The Army is facing a similar issue. Even in-progress PCS moves have been halted despite some orders arriving before Oct. 1. This is exceptionally concerning because the shutdown began just after the majority of PCS orders were sent out, meaning many families are waiting to move into their new homes across the country and the world, staying at on-base hotels and spending weeks or even months without the comforts of home.

Those required to make PCS moves during the shutdown are facing financial hardships because of the uncertain environment. One organization estimates that on average, military families spend $8,000 outside of what the government covers in moving expenses — a very large financial burden for families unsure when they will receive their paychecks. Moving expenses are an especially large concern for younger military families who often have very little in savings.

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While military families and personnel are urged to spend less money, they are left to wonder when their next paycheck will come, and how best to prepare their families for continuing negative news.

Among all the negative consequences of the Schumer shutdown, some of the worst are those affecting military personnel and installations. Our service members and their families deserve better than this.

Wilson Beaver is a senior policy advisor for defense budgeting at The Heritage Foundation. 

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus kneecapped Republicans’ bid to reopen the government for the 12th time in a 54-46 vote where Republicans needed at least 60 votes to advance the measure. The latest failed vote comes as Schumer has demanded another meeting with President Donald Trump and on the heels of an almost 24-hour filibuster by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore, that pushed the vote late into Wednesday.

During his marathon floor speech, which began at 6:23 pm on Tuesday, Merkley spoke on authoritarianism — what he called the Trump Administration’s overreach on immigration, separation of powers, and more.

“Republicans have shut down the government to continue the strategy of slashing Americans’ healthcare,” Merkley said, referring to the healthcare-centered debate holding up consideration of the government’s funding.

He concluded his remarks at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

Little has changed in the upper chamber since the shutdown began. Schumer and the Senate Democratic caucus demand that there be a real, ironclad deal to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies, while Senate Republicans remain adamant that there is no path forward available on the matter until the government is reopened.

SCHUMER REQUESTS MEETING WITH TRUMP ‘ANY TIME, ANY PLACE’ AS DEMOCRAT STALEMATE DRAGS ON

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., steps away from reporters following a Democratic policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Oct. 15, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

But what is old is new in a repeating cycle, and Schumer wants to meet with Trump again.

Schumer, speaking on behalf of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., requested another meeting with Trump ahead of the vote in a bid to go around Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and congressional Republicans to secure a deal.

There have been informal talks — more casual conversation than true negotiation — between Republicans and Democrats, but nothing has materialized that puts lawmakers any closer to solving the ongoing stalemate.

“Hakeem and I reached out to the president today and urged him to sit down and negotiate with us to resolve the healthcare crisis, address it and end the Trump shutdown,” Schumer said. “He should sit — the things get worse every day for the American people. He should sit down with us, negotiate in a serious way before he goes away.”

The last time the top congressional Democrats met with Trump came just a day before the climactic vote to avert a shutdown. Neither side walked away with a compromise, or agreement, to keep the lights on.

SENATE DEMS EMBOLDENED BY WEEKEND RALLIES BLOCK GOP PLAN TO END SHUTDOWN FOR 11TH TIME

President Donald Trump listens as Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a lunch with Republican senators on the Rose Garden patio at the White House in Washington, Oct. 21, 2025. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

Fast-forward to the shutdown’s fourth week, and Trump signaled he’d speak with Schumer and Jeffries — only after the government is reopened.

“The government has to be open,” he said. “You know how long it will take for them to do that? Just say, ‘OK, government is open.’ That’s it. There is nothing — They’re not negotiating.”

“What they’re doing is saying they lost the negotiation,” Trump continued. “And when we got the great ‘big beautiful [bill]’ done, they lost the negotiation. Now they’re saying, ‘Well, we want to get some of the things we lost.’ But the problem is the things they lost are very bad for our country.”

Congressional Democrats’ initial demands, made in a counter-proposal to the House-passed continuing resolution (CR), called for a permanent extension to the enhanced Obamacare premium tax credits and guardrails on Trump’s ability to claw back congressionally approved funding, among other things.

SCHUMER’S SHUTDOWN SCHEME EXPLAINED: DEMS DOUBLE DOWN ON OBAMACARE CREDITS AS STANDOFF DRAGS ON

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pictured at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

A White House official doubled down on Trump’s position and told Fox News Digital, “We will not have policy conversations while the Democrats are holding the American people hostage. Reopen the government.”

While Democrats desire more than just an extension to the COVID-19-era subsidy, they’ve made their primary argument all about the tax credits.

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Thune offered Senate Democrats a vote on the subsidies, but so far they have declined to take the leap and instead are holding out for a guaranteed outcome in the shutdown fight. However, that is unlikely to come as Republicans and the White House, so far, are equally dug in against Schumer’s demands.

“I think [Trump] wants the Democrats to take ‘yes’ for an answer,” Thune said. “We’ve offered them a lot of the things they were asking for — a normal appropriations process, an opportunity to get a vote on some of the things that they want to see voted on, with respect to the expiring Obamacare enhanced subsidies. But that can’t happen until we open up the government.”

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

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Trump departed for Asia Friday night for a weeklong trip that will include stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. Republicans and Democrats remain divided on negotiations to end the shutdown that began earlier this month, with each side blaming the other as the GOP controls the White House and both chambers of Congress.

“In the midst of the longest full government shutdown in American history — a crisis of his own making — President Trump’spriorities are severely misplaced,” Schumer said in a statement.

TRUMP SAYS SCHUMER, SENATE DEMOCRATS HOLDING GOVERNMENT ‘HOSTAGE’ WITH SHUTDOWN: ‘WE WILL NOT BE EXTORTED’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused President Donald Trump of “skipping town” for a trip to Asia during the ongoing government shutdown. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

“While Americans are struggling to make ends meet, federal workers are going without pay, and millions of families are bracing for soaring health care costs, the President is leaving the country,” he continued.

Schumer added: “America is shut down and the President is skipping town.”

The senator said Democrats have sought to meet with Trump, but that the president is “abandoning” his responsibilities.

“Democrats have asked, again and again, for President Trump to meet with us to negotiate a bipartisan deal that would address the healthcare crisis, and find a path forward to reopen the government.But instead of doing his job, President Trump is abandoning it,” Schumer said.

Republicans and Democrats remain divided on negotiations to end the shutdown that began earlier this month. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

Schumer also called on GOP lawmakers in Congress to work across the aisle to reach a deal to end the shutdown.

“With the President out of the country, the responsibility falls squarely on Congressional Republicans to act — to come to the table, to do their jobs, and to deliver an agreement that reopens the government and protects Americans from another health care disaster,” he said.

“Americans deserve a government that works as hard as they do— not a leader that flies away from responsibility at the time they need one most,” the top Senate Democrat added.

BERNIE SANDERS CLASHES WITH TOWN HALL ATTENDEE OVER SCHUMER LEADERSHIP DURING SHUTDOWN

President Donald Trump departed for Asia on a trip that will include stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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While in Asia, Trump is expected to meet with regional allies about trade, including the trade war with China, as well as Beijing’s tightening of export controls on rare-earth minerals critical for certain technologies.

The president is also expected to address security in the region and to affirm America’s commitment to supporting its allies.

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