'A Complete And Total Disaster': Hakeem Jeffries Assails President Trump, House Republicans

Forbes Breaking News

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) held his weekly press briefing on Thursday.

Transcript

00:00Good morning, everybody.

00:03Good morning.

00:05Trump's first 100 days have been a complete and total disaster, and House Republicans own all of it.

00:13Instead of functioning as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch,

00:20which was the intentions of the framers of the Constitution, including James Madison,

00:26who said that Congress at its best should be a rival to the executive branch,

00:34House Republicans have functioned as a rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda, period, full stop.

00:45That extreme agenda has done nothing to lower the high cost of living in the United States of America,

00:52notwithstanding all of the big, bold promises that Donald Trump and Republicans made on the campaign trail

01:00that they were going to make life more affordable for the American people.

01:04What has happened is that life is getting more expensive for the American people.

01:11Donald Trump and House Republicans are crashing the economy in real time,

01:16and they are driving us toward a painful Republican recession.

01:22The whole thing is a complete and total disgrace,

01:26and the American people are paying attention, they see it, they know it,

01:32and House Republicans are going to be held accountable for it.

01:36Questions?

01:38Good morning, thank you.

01:40No mic today?

01:41No mic today.

01:42I feel like I believe you're short on Cruz.

01:46He's another guy there.

01:48In any event, obviously you guys are arguing against the reconciliation package.

01:53If you guys aren't able to convince voters to get to these Republicans, get to the President,

01:58say, you know, kill this bill, will you have failed in that mission?

02:03No.

02:03Why not?

02:03Our objective is to find four Republicans to do the right thing to stop the largest cut to Medicaid

02:14in American history, which will hurt families, hurt children, hurt seniors, hurt people with disabilities,

02:21hurt veterans, and hurt everyday Americans.

02:25And if Republicans are successful in jamming down an extreme budget into signature, into law,

02:37then they own that.

02:39It's on them.

02:40They're the ones that claim they have some big, bold, beautiful mandate.

02:43They have no mandate to end Social Security as we know it.

02:48They have no mandate to dramatically cut the health care of the American people.

02:53They have no mandate to take food out of the mouths of children.

02:58And at the end of the day, if they successfully jam this reckless budget down the throat to

03:03the American people, the voters will hold them accountable.

03:08Mr. Leader, can you just clarify your position with a simple yes or no?

03:12Do you support your members going to El Salvador, particularly in terms of the situation involving

03:19Kilmar Abrego Garcia?

03:21Just yes or no?

03:21Support what members?

03:22The members that went, I've had nothing.

03:24Any Democratic member going.

03:25Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

03:28In terms of the report that alleged that members of House Democratic leadership had some phantom

03:38conversation with either the members who took a trip to El Salvador or any other members,

03:44that is a complete and total fabrication.

03:47The only statement that was made to members who went to El Salvador was, welcome back.

03:57We are glad you have returned safely.

04:00Vice President Harris gave a big speech in San Francisco last night, reentering the political

04:10scene, want to get your reaction to that.

04:12You talk about a more and more environment.

04:15Do you welcome her back to the political scene?

04:18Do you think that she's going to help the Democratic cause?

04:21Yes.

04:22And she mentioned three of your members, Congressman Ocasio-Cortez, Jasmine Crockett, and Maxwell

04:27Frost as members who she has found inspiration from for their work leading the resistance.

04:32What is your reaction to that as well?

04:34I think she's an incredibly important voice, and we, of course, continue to welcome our thoughts

04:41and ideas.

04:42And on the members she mentioned as leaders of the resistance against Trump.

04:48Great shout out for them.

04:51Thank you, Mr. Leader.

04:53With Congressman Shri Thandandar recently introducing articles of impeachment, is it productive for

04:59Democrats to be focused on this right now, and why?

05:03I gave an entire speech that was about 25 minutes long, laying out the moment that we

05:11find ourselves in after the debacle of Trump's first 100 days, and also articulating our view

05:20about what needs to be done to make life better for the American people, focused on this principle

05:26that in America, when you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to have an

05:32affordable home, educate your children, have access to high-quality health care, have a

05:38good-paying job, and be able to retire with grace and dignity.

05:42So I haven't had a conversation with Shri.

05:47You'll have to talk to Shri about his perspective as to what he believes to be the right thing

05:54to do at this moment.

05:56And until I have a conversation with Shri, there's really nothing further for me to add.

06:01Thank you, Mr. General Leader.

06:04This morning, the Colorado Sun reported a long, extensive story about the challenges facing

06:09Yadira Paraveo, one of your former members who's running again for the seat.

06:13Do you think she should drop out of the race, given what's been reported based off treatment

06:19of staff for mental health challenges, et cetera?

06:21I haven't read the story, and I haven't had a conversation with Yadira, so it'd be inappropriate

06:26for me to comment until I've given her the respect of both reading the story and having

06:33a direct conversation with her.

06:35She was a former colleague.

06:38Mr. Leader, I know you said you didn't want to speculate about the future of the Oversight

06:42Committee, but now you have several of your members that are openly jockeying for that

06:45ranking member position.

06:46At what point do you think your leadership team will make a path forward for the future

06:52of the leadership of the Oversight Committee, and are you entertaining the idea of allowing

06:56Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to have a waiver so that she can run for the ranking

07:02member of SLOC?

07:03I don't want to speculate about the future of the Oversight Committee.

07:06At what point will you?

07:07Well, the rules are pretty clear that when there's a vacancy, the caucus under the leadership

07:16of Chairman Pete Aguilar would have to call an election within 30 days.

07:22Leader Jeffries.

07:23Actually, I'm sorry.

07:23I don't want to go to the back.

07:24We'll come back to the front.

07:25I'll go to the back.

07:28CBS News is reporting that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is going to step down.

07:33What are your thoughts on that, and should other people follow him?

07:36Yes.

07:36Leader Jeffries, thank you.

07:42House Republicans and the President's allies continue to blame DEI programs for staffing

07:48decisions at airports and air traffic control, calling instead for a return to what they call

07:52merit-based hiring.

07:54Stephen Miller actually talked about it at the White House this morning.

07:57How do you respond to the idea that diversity initiatives and merit are mutually exclusive,

08:02and what would you say to Americans who might be concerned about safety being compromised

08:07by these narratives?

08:08Safety has been compromised by the complete and total incompetence of Donald Trump and

08:14his administration, who are dismantling the safety architecture of the FAA and jeopardizing

08:22the well-being of the American people who fly across America and the world.

08:29From the very beginning of this administration, Donald Trump and his lackeys have been dismantling

08:37the FAA, jeopardizing flight safety and putting Americans in danger.

08:44This group right now is falling apart, despite all of the concerns that somehow Donald Trump and

08:51Republicans had Democrats on the run, and it was all inevitable, and they have some big

08:58mandate, and in record speed, they've fallen apart.

09:04No surprise to some of us who believe that all of the talk, that this was somehow the dawn

09:11of a new era, is actually what was going to occur in the United States of America.

09:17Donald Trump is the most unpopular president in his first 100 days in American history.

09:25What happened to that so-called mandate?

09:29It never existed, one, and to the extent it existed in their mind in some MAGA thought

09:37bubble, it has completely evaporated.

09:42Leader Jeffries, you recently came out and endorsed legislation to ban lawmakers from trading individual

09:49stocks.

09:50This idea has been out there for years.

09:52I'm wondering why you decided to come out in favor of it now, and since you're effectively

09:56the only leader of either party endorsing the ban, have you talked to your counterparts

10:02and leadership about moving forward with this?

10:04I have not had a conversation with my counterparts and leadership on this, but it is something

10:08that I've long supported, including previously as House Democratic leader and prior to that

10:13as chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

10:15So this has been a consistent position of mine for years, and I support the efforts led by

10:21Representative Ocasio-Cortez, Seth Magaziner, and others in the House Democratic Caucus to try

10:28to get this done.

10:33Leader Jeffries, so I know you talked about this earlier, but Al Green is planning on speaking

10:41in the House today about impeachment.

10:44Is there any point in the future when you plan on putting your foot down on this and giving

10:47a public statement of approval or disapproval?

10:51I spoke yesterday for about 25 minutes to the country about my vision for the future, a blueprint

11:01for a better America, and encapsulated what I believe has occurred for America over the

11:09first 100 days.

11:10I was also on the steps of the Capitol for 12 and a half hours, continuously talking to the

11:16American people, with Senator Booker and others, about what we believe to be important in the

11:22United States of America.

11:24So there's a lot of footage out there of our views on what is occurring in America, and

11:31all of that information actually really does speak for itself because it's how we feel.

11:36I want to ask about that blueprint.

11:42What form can we expect to see that in?

11:44Is there, who's going to be involved in drafting that if it is like a physical or a product?

11:49Stay tuned.

11:52There's this discussion going on right now along House Republicans about Medicaid work

11:56requirements.

11:57What are your issues with expanding Medicaid work requirements, and what constitutes as

12:02reasonable work requirements for Medicaid?

12:05House Republicans are not trying to impose work requirements.

12:10They're not trying to root out waste, fraud, and abuse.

12:14We all support making the federal government the most efficient that it can be.

12:19House Republicans have proposed up to $880 billion in Medicaid cuts.

12:25That's the largest Medicaid cut in American history.

12:29Hospitals will close.

12:30Nursing homes will shut down.

12:31Communities will be hurt.

12:33And Americans will die.

12:35These people are scrambling right now to try to explain to the American people the devastation

12:41that they've already voted to set in motion.

12:44Not once, but twice.

12:46And the American people aren't having it.

12:50And so they're trying to spin their way out of this box that they've gotten themselves

12:57in.

12:58But it's not going to work.

13:01$880 billion in cuts to Medicaid means you are taking health insurance away from children,

13:12families, seniors, women, veterans, people with disabilities, and everyday Americans.

13:18Period.

13:19Full stop.

13:20It's one of the reasons why the overwhelming majority of House Republicans aren't having

13:25town hall meetings.

13:26We're having town hall meetings in Democratic districts, and we're having town hall meetings

13:30in Republican districts because we're not afraid to talk to the American people.

13:35We work for the American people.

13:38House Republicans are a rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda, and it's not working

13:43out for them.

13:45But they're already on record.

13:50No matter what lies and half-truths they try to tell to the American people, they're going

13:56to be held accountable for once again trying to take health care away from hard-working

14:05American taxpayers.

14:06This is nothing new.

14:09They attacked the Affordable Care Act for years because these people have some irrational obsession

14:19with taking health care away from the American people.

14:23This is why they find themselves in trouble right now, and we're going to keep the pressure

14:29on them, do everything we can to stop these reckless Medicaid cuts from taking effect, and

14:36if they jam their reckless budget down the throats of the American people, they will be held

14:41accountable next November.

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