U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries talks about control of Congress and his new book "The ABCs of Democracy."

Hakeem Jeffries nearly became House speaker. Instead, he’s steering the Democratic Party through an identity crisis and hoping to avoid an ugly intraparty civil war.

House Leader Hakeem Jeffries won reelection Tuesday as the Democratic leader. The New York Democrat received support from his colleagues despite the party’s inability to win back majority control of the chamber in the November election.