House majority whip Jim Clyburn, the powerful South Carolina Democrat, was in his car on the way to the White House when a call came in from the president of the United States.
Joe Biden wanted to let him know that he’d made the decision to endorse South Carolina as the first state on the primary calendar for 2024, a major coup for Clyburn’s home state. The topic was unusual, but the call was not, Clyburn acknowledged in a recent interview.
“It’s not out of the norm for him to call,” Clyburn said. “We have regular conversations, but I wouldn’t say often.”
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It’s a funny understatement of his influence given that the story of Joe Biden becoming president is generally understood to have been made possible by Clyburn — even Clyburn’s makes note of his key endorsement.
Whether their conversations are best described as “often” or “regular,” the news Biden was relaying on this particular phone call was a major shakeup that speaks to the shifting priorities of the president’s party — in this case, its acknowledgement of Black voters and the key role they play in getting Democrats elected. But in elevating South Carolina, the Democratic National Committee snubbed other states, including New Hampshire, which has long had the first primary, and Nevada, whose leaders had been actively campaigning for the slot. The DNC’s final vote is scheduled for February.
In interviews ranging from members of Congress to South Carolina operatives, much of the credit goes to Clyburn, solidifying his reputation as an 82-year-old kingmaker who continues to wield influence as he approaches 30 years in the House. “He deserves 150 percent of the credit for making this happen,” said Colleen Condon, the former chair of the Charleston County Democrats.
Although he’s unwilling to admit that his endorsement of Biden in 2020 had anything to do with Biden’s decision to make South Carolina first on the primary calendar, it may end up being a crown jewel of his legacy.
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In the days following the midterm elections, which left House Democrats in the minority but in a better position than many predicted, Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and majority leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland both announced their decisions to step aside, allowing a new set of lawmakers to take over in January. But Clyburn declined to join them, instead running for and winning the number four position in leadership: assistant Democratic leader.
“The speaker and the majority leader got to the leadership table a long time before I did,” Clyburn said in an interview when asked about his thinking around staying in leadership. “Nobody focuses on that. Everybody keeps asking me, well, why didn’t you step down when they stepped down? I didn’t step up when they stepped up.”
Clyburn first entered Congress in 1993, and in his telling, he’s there to correct the inequities that long precede his time as a lawmaker.
“A word does not come out of his mouth if he does not know exactly what he’s planning to say and what it’s going to mean, and he understands his power in that way,” said Amanda Loveday, a former communications director to Clyburn and adviser to Unite The Country, a pro-Biden super PAC.
Clyburn said that he stayed in leadership to make sure the South continues to have his voice and that he was supported in this decision by the Congressional Black Caucus, where he’s one of the most senior members. In fact, lawmakers from that caucus and Democratic membership overall say they are enthusiastic he is staying to help in the transition. Among his many mentees is Hakeem Jeffries, the next Democratic minority leader and first Black lawmaker elected to lead the party in the House.
“Jim Clyburn is an incredible leader, I am proud to stand on his shoulders. I look forward to continuing to benefit from his sharp wisdom, insight, and experience as I step into this new role,” Jeffries told the Globe. Asked whether Clyburn’s decision to stay blocked the Jeffries had a one-word response:
Like Jeffries, many in the party see Clyburn as a bridge between the old guard and the new one.
“As we’re passing the gavel to a new generation of leaders, we still have some challenging waters to navigate,” said outgoing Representative Val Demings of Florida. “And Jim Clyburn will help all of the members who will still be here do that.”
But it has made for a couple of awkward situations. Representative David Cicilline of Rhode Island to Clyburn, citing a need for LGBTQ+ representation in leadership, and then.
The cascade effect of his move also directly impacted the decisions of younger members including Representative Joe Neguse, a rising star and former Trump impeachment manager, who changed plans and ran for a lower position than the one he originally sought in the aftermath of Clyburn’s announcement.
Asked whether Clyburn’s decision upset him, Neguse exclaimed “no!” and added that he “wouldn’t characterize it” as Clyburn blocking him. The deference to Clyburn is rare in a world of politicians constantly seeking to climb to the next level.
Still, every decision in politics can have the effect of resetting the board. While Clyburn claims to have little interest in the order of primary states, for example, it’s not an ungrounded suggestion that his endorsement of Biden led to it. And South Carolina has caused some heartburn within the party.
Faiz Shakir, a vocal critic of the South Carolina endorsement and Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign manager, made the case that South Carolina’s conservative state politics are “divorced” from the direction progressives want to go.
“[Clyburn’s] opinion carries weight, and that’s as it should be,” he said, “but we should also be aware that his opinion is biased … towards South Carolina.” Critical decisions about the party’s primary process, he added, shouldn’t be made, “just because we like and respect one individual.”
Clyburn that Shakir’s sounded like “sour grapes.” To the Globe, Clyburn said that while he has made the case for South Carolina as “the perfect political laboratory,” he didn’t ask Biden for the state to be first and said it “is his decision for whatever reason.”
The White House did not return a request for comment but has previously disputed that the 2020 primary results had anything to do with Biden’s decision.
Still, it’s not a perfect streak— his , a South Carolina judge to be nominated as a justice fell short. Biden instead nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black justice.
How long Clyburn’s power can last is uncertain. Former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, a Republican who also served alongside Clyburn in the House, recalled that years ago, they found themselves on opposite sides of in South Carolina. “When he digs in, he digs in hard.”
Sanford said that he thinks Clyburn’s power is linked to Biden. “When and if that changes, I suspect his hold on power will change as well,” Sanford said.
When asked what he wants his role in the party to be in the next few years, Clyburn’s thoughts don’t stray from Biden.
“I want my role in the Democratic Party to be whatever it takes to reelect Joe Biden as president,” Clyburn said, adding that he believes it’s the most productive Congress in decades. “I want to see us continue to build upon that because there’s still much more to be done.”