Hakeem Jeffries' progressive members are starting to wonder aloud if he has the mettle to take on President-elect Trump.

Why it matters: The House minority leader's loyalists say he's a unifier and coalition-builder. But Jeffries is no longer immune from the ideological infighting that's plaguing Democrats since they were swept from power.

• Jeffries is "going to hear from a lot of us across the caucus that we have to be willing to take on" progressive policy fights, outgoing Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) told us.
• With Democrats on track to lose the House, "he'll be put in the same blanket" as other Democrats, said one House progressive.

Between the lines: Internal criticism of Jeffries is rare, even when offered on the condition of anonymity.

• One House progressive told us they feel like last week's losses would never have happened under Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.
• Some of their colleagues blame Jeffries for not pushing President Biden to drop out of the presidential race earlier and have lamented "it's sad that Pelosi still has to do this work," the lawmaker said.

Zoom out: Jeffries faces the grueling, nasty slog of mediating among his party's factions as they relapse into Trump 1.0-era civil wars.

• Case in point: Moderate Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) uncorked on the left after a progressive backlash over his comments about transgender participation in sports.
• "This is the same group of people who told us to defund the police, who told us there wasn't a problem at the southern border, who told us inflation was 'transient,' whatever that means, and who told us that Biden was just fine," he said on MSNBC.

The bottom line: Many of Jeffries' more moderate members have dismissed the notion he is at all deserving of criticism, and some progressives have spoken publicly on his behalf.

• Still, the senior House progressive who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Axios: "I don't think anybody ever should take or can take their leadership for granted."

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— Andrew Solender and Hans Nichols

Chuck Schumer is plotting extraordinary measures to stop Trump's agenda on confirming judges and political appointees. But he'll have to decide fast if his No. 2 is up for the job.

• Schumer's options include jamming up GOP attempts to adjourn the chamber for Trump to make recess appointments, sources tell us.
• But they can only delay the process as long as Senate Democrats have the energy to keep it up.

Zoom in: Democrats tell us they're nervous about whether Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), 79, has the fire to fight Trump nominees as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

• Durbin, who is also the Senate Democratic whip, has publicly mused about his future in the Senate.
• He's up for reelection in 2026.

The intrigue: A number of Democrats pointed to Durbin's age as a major factor.

• Of course, Trump himself is 78 and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who is set to chair the Judiciary Committee, is 91.
• Durbin was on Judiciary during the first Trump administration, and impressed with his efforts to fight against GOP nominations.
• But Senate Democrats are more prone to remember the experience of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) as the top Democrat on the panel. She came under intense fire for not fighting harder against Trump Supreme Court nominees.

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— Stephen Neukam

By this time tomorrow, Mitch McConnell will have a replacement. But it won't be an heir.

Why it matters: Any of the three candidates for Senate GOP leader will be far more willing to work with Trump and empower conservatives than McConnell would ever dare.

• Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) plans to tell senators tonight he won't assume bills will get 60 votes and will encourage floor debate and amendments. He also is promising regular meetings with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Vice President Vance as well as a December conference on GOP priorities, a source familiar tells us.
• Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has promised more amendments and power and input from average senators while focusing on getting young, conservative judges confirmed. He plans to discuss over the lame-duck session how to make the chamber work better.
• Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) launched his bid as the leader most committed to significant change. He has taken a notably more public approach, blanketing the airwaves and riding a wave of support from influential voices in Trump world.

🏠 Over in the House, Johnson's Republicans are prepared to do whatever Trump wants, as we told you earlier today in a Hill Leaders Thought Bubble.

• You saw it in April, when Johnson visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) tried to oust him as speaker.
• You saw it in May, when Johnson went to New York to stand with Trump at his hush-money criminal trial.
• You even saw it this fall, when Johnson wasted weeks entertaining Trump's notions on the government funding stopgap before finally punting any fight to after the election.

⏩ And you saw it today, when Johnson said he'd wait for Trump to decide what he wants to do on government spending.

• Trump will be on Capitol Hill tomorrow, and no one's doubting his grip over today's GOP.

— Stef Kight, Hans Nichols and Juliegrace Brufke

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