In a series of conversations, people close to Schiff and Jeffries did nothing to discourage the rampant speculation about the men’s ambitions, and described it in unusually rich detail.

Schiff is said to be interested in the Senate (California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is 86), a spot in a potential Democratic administration or speaker of the House. Jeffries, meanwhile, has scant interest in running for mayor of New York — a job he was rumored to be eyeing. He wants to be House speaker — and is taking steps to get there.

On-the-record speculation about the future of one’s colleagues is seen as uncouth in a Capitol overflowing with ambition, but the hushed whispers about the pair of Democrats — who, together, spoke for more than half of their party’s time during the trial — is pervasive from every corner of the caucus, and illustrative of their stature among their colleagues…

Indeed, this week on the House floor, the pair has been lavished with praise for their role in prosecuting Trump. Schiff and Jeffries were the top two speakers during the trial for House Democrats, speaking for a total of nearly 11½ hours, according to statistics compiled by C-SPAN. Both had their viral moments, offering what Democrats celebrated as stem-winding indictments of Trump — and, on a lighter note, Jeffries invoked the Notorious B.I.G., the late rapper.