Watch Hakeem Jeffries passionately nominate Nancy Pelosi for speaker

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) just dropped what's probably the first hip-hop reference in a House speaker nomination.

The 116th Congress convened for the first time on Thursday, and the new Democratic majority quickly voted to elect Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as House speaker. But first, Jeffries laid down why she should be the "once and future speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives."

Jeffries used his time on the House floor to list Pelosi's qualifications as speaker. She's "a sophisticated strategist, a legendary legislator, a voice for the voiceless," and many, many other things, Jeffries explained. And that's why "House Democrats are down with N.D.P. — Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi," Jeffries declared in a reference to Naughty By Nature's "O.P.P."

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Pelosi faced a leadership struggle before and after the midterm elections in November, and there was a chance she may not have gained the 218-vote majority she needed to become speaker. But a number of Democrats who previously questioned her leadership voted for her Thursday, securing her speakership.