Hakeem Jeffries said he will weigh in on the New York City mayoral race, in which Zohran Mamdani is the frontrunner, this week. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The remark was similar to comments he gave Fox News Digital on Friday, the day after the mayoral debate. Jeffries said then, however, that he had not yet watched the debate at that point.
"I do expect to speak to the Democratic nominee, Zohran, at some point before early voting," he added when asked how long he was waiting to endorse.
He also dodged the question of why he has not yet endorsed Mamdani during an appearance on ABC News' "This Week" on Sunday.
"As I've indicated, I expect to have a conversation with him at some point this week in advance of early voting, which begins next weekend in New York City. And we'll certainly have more to say about the mayors' race and about our Democratic nominee prior to early voting beginning," Jeffries said instead.
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Mamdani is currently the presumed frontrunner in the race against Republican Curtis Sliwa and Independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York.
Jeffries' counterpart in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has repeatedly denounced Mamdani as a "Marxist."
And Mamdani's candidacy has caused somewhat of a rift between Democrats in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks at a hearing of the Religious Liberty Commission at the Museum of the Bible, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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But Republican leaders in Congress have repeatedly insisted that they have nothing to negotiate after offering a straightforward, seven-week extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 federal funding levels.
The measure, called a continuing resolution (CR), is aimed at giving congressional appropriators more time to strike a longer-term deal on FY2026 funding.
The House passed the bill on Sept. 19. But in the Senate, where at least eight Democrats are needed to break a filibuster if all GOP lawmakers supported it, the bill has failed to advance twelve times.
Democratic leaders are demanding any funding bill be paired with an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jeffries-hints-imminent-decision-mamdani-endorsement-after-dodging-questions-weeks