- 5/15/2025
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) held a press briefing on Thursday.
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00:00Good afternoon everyone. House Democrats have spent all week aggressively pushing
00:06back against the GOP tax scam. We will continue to make clear to the American
00:12people that Republicans promised to lower the high cost of living and improve
00:18the economy and in fact promised that costs would go down on day one. Costs
00:23aren't going down, they are going up and Republicans continue to crash the economy
00:30in real time and are driving America toward a painful recession. At the same
00:36time, extreme MAGA Republicans are trying to jam this reckless budget down the
00:44throats of the American people, take away health care from approximately 14
00:50million Americans, including by undermining parts of the Affordable Care Act and
00:58enacting the largest Medicaid cut in American history, while at the same time
01:05taking away more than $300 billion from nutritional assistance to the American
01:16people. Literally, House Republicans have voted to take food out of the mouths
01:24of children, families, seniors and veterans as part of their toxic scheme to enact massive
01:36tax cuts for their billionaire donors like Elon Musk. This legislation is the height of
01:45irresponsibility. It will hurt everyday Americans and does nothing to make the
01:57economy more affordable or make the lives of the American people better. Which is why as
02:06House Democrats, we will continue to strongly oppose this bill as members of the Energy and Commerce
02:15Committee, the Ways and Means Committee, and the Ag Committee did
02:23exceptionally well and in a unified fashion throughout this week. Questions?
02:33Can you be more specific about what would happen if there were to be an arrest? Can you be more specific if there were to be an arrest or if there were to be sanctions against these Democrats?
02:46Let's be clear. Let's be clear. Let's be clear. Right. They will find out to the extent that they cross any red lines that have been made explicitly clear to them.
03:03There is zero basis to hold any member of Congress accountable, either as a result of House floor action or activity based on weaponizing federal law enforcement against members of the Democratic Party.
03:24There's no evidence to suggest that any member of Congress who was in Newark visiting the detention facility in connection with their oversight authority has done anything wrong.
03:46No videos have been produced suggesting that they've engaged in any inappropriate activity.
03:55And if those videos existed, certainly they would have been put into the public domain by now.
04:04Those videos haven't been released because they don't exist.
04:11The members of Congress, Bonnie Watson, Coleman, LaMonica MacGyver, and Rob Menendez, were the ones who were subjected to overly aggressive behavior
04:29by people who are weaponizing the authority of the federal government as part of some effort to try to intimidate House Democrats.
04:41It's not happening.
04:44They will not be successful as it relates to their efforts to intimidate us.
04:50Not today, not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, not next year, not ever.
04:57Are there any reforms to Medicaid that you would support to make it more solvent?
05:03We are always open to having a bipartisan conversation to see how we can make the federal government and important programs relied upon by the American people as efficient and effective as possible.
05:18The House Republicans have not produced any evidence of meaningful waste, fraud, and abuse.
05:25That's an excuse to try to find cuts to enable their massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors like Elon Musk.
05:38From the very beginning of this process, Republicans have made clear they don't want to enter into any bipartisan conversation about making life better for the American people,
05:48which is why they've chosen to produce this one big ugly bill through reconciliation so they can avoid Democrats being part of the legislative process.
06:03To the extent this thing falls apart in some way, shape or form, then as Democrats, like we've made clear from the very beginning of this Congress,
06:13we'll work with anyone in good faith who's actually committed to improving the quality of life of the American people and building an affordable economy.
06:23Republicans clearly are not in that space.
06:26So what about strengthening work requirements and those kinds of things?
06:32The Republicans have spent years complaining about unfunded mandates and now we have this one big ugly bill filled with unfunded mandates.
06:41These aren't serious people right now.
06:44And this is not just Democrats expressing concern about the assault on Medicaid and the health care of the American people.
06:52Senator Josh Hawley has been very clear because he knows what we know.
06:58That this Republican budget, the GOP tax scam, represents an assault on Medicaid recipients and the health care of the American people.
07:10This whole notion that Democrats are somehow making this up is belied by the fact that conservative Republicans have made the same observation.
07:19Including people who are close to the Trump administration who have warned this Republican Congress that if they proceed with these Medicaid cuts, they are hurting their own people.
07:33Rural hospitals will close and health care is going to be snatched away from working class Americans in blue states, purple states and red states.
07:46Thank you, Mr. Leader.
07:47The Supreme Court, I heard all arguments today on Trump's birthright citizenship at your border.
07:54I know how Democrats put forward an American's brief arguing against it.
07:58For Americans who are tuning in to this conversation, what's your message to them about birthright citizenship and why you all are fighting so hard to defend it?
08:06Well, birthright citizenship is part of the fabric of the country because it's part of the fabric of the United States Constitution as included in the 14th Amendment.
08:18The history of birthright citizenship, of course, relates to the fact that in the aftermath of emancipation and during Reconstruction, enlightened people in this Congress at the time in the 1860s and throughout the country determined that there was a risk that newly freed,
08:39formally enslaved Africans would not be treated as actual citizens and would be subjected to behavior that would relegate them to second or third class citizenship to try to avoid that circumstance.
09:00It was included in the 14th Amendment in a way that makes clear anyone born in this country is an American citizen.
09:12Donald Trump does not have the ability to wave a malignant MAGA wand and wipe that away.
09:21He can't do it.
09:23And I think it's pretty clear based on the Supreme Court arguments today that a majority of the court will come to that conclusion that Donald Trump's executive order related to birthright citizenship was both unlawful and unconstitutional and another example of his abuse of power.
09:46I haven't spoken to Speaker Johnson about this issue, but what is clear is that there's corruption unfolding in real time amongst the executive branch and that to the extent that we tackle this issue as it relates to prohibiting
10:15members of Congress from trading stock, which I strongly support.
10:20We need to simultaneously explore how we can deal with executive branch corruption.
10:28Next. Kevin.
10:30Do you plan on endorsing at all in the mayor's race between now and the end of June?
10:35Obviously, many of your colleagues have stepped into this.
10:38I don't.
10:39Thanks.
10:40It's pretty easy.
10:43We can circle back to you on another question if you want.
10:49Okay.
10:50Given the new allegations in Jake Tapper's book, do you have any concerns with President Biden's age or decline or was there a cover up by the Democratic Party?
11:01We're not looking backward.
11:03We're going to continue to look forward.
11:04Certainly, I think President Biden made the decision not to seek reelection.
11:12It's a decision that House Democrats strongly supported.
11:18So regarding this budget bill, what's your progress in getting four Republicans to kill it with Democrats?
11:24Who are those Republicans who are looking to come to your side?
11:28And additionally, what other avenues can Democrats explore to kill the bill?
11:32Well, there were more than a dozen Republicans who, in different ways, have publicly communicated their opposition to supporting a bill that would strip away Medicaid and health care benefits from the American people, including those that they represent.
11:47All we need are four of those Republicans who have publicly said they do not support this effort to enact the largest cut to Medicaid in American history to actually stand on principle and oppose this Republican budget as it is currently written.
12:11I do not believe that the Republican leadership believes that the votes exist right now for the GOP tax scam as it has currently been put together.
12:25And so the next few days will be critical.
12:28I urge my Republican colleagues to stop running away from their constituents.
12:33House Democrats are going to continue to run toward our constituents and their constituents as we've been doing.
12:40And we'll have these conversations in advance of returning to Washington.
12:47And we'll see if just a handful of members can come up with the political courage to stand up for their constituents.
12:55So just a quick follow-up to that.
12:57Are you personally going to talk to any of these Republicans to convince them to come to your side?
13:02Those are conversations that are ongoing and private in nature at this moment.
13:06We've also been very clear publicly with where we as Democrats stand and the fact that we look forward to finding four Republicans to partner with us in defense of the health care of the American people.
13:21Senator Jeffries, do you think it makes sense to have citizenship verification for Medicaid and Social Security number requirement for child tax credit?
13:31I think that, you know, we support Medicaid as it currently exists and the efforts to enact the largest Medicaid cut in American history is unacceptable.
13:44It's unnecessary, it's unconscionable, and it's un-American.
13:50If my Republican colleagues want to have a conversation about how we can make health care delivery in the United States of America more affordable, more effective, and more efficient, led by Frank Pallone, the Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee are more than willing to have that conversation.
14:10But we believe that in America, access to high-quality health care is not a privilege, it's a right.
14:18And we've been moving toward getting to a place where every single American can have access to the health care that they need to live a life of dignity and respect.
14:32Unfortunately, House Republicans, Senate Republicans, and the Trump administration are undermining the progress that has been made in the area of health care and are now putting access to health care at risk for millions of people all across this country.
14:52Hospitals will close, including in rural America, nursing homes will shut down in every single community, and people will die.
15:02This is not an effort that we can support and House Democrats are unified in our strong and principled opposition.
15:13Thank you, Leader Jeffries.
15:14With everything that is going on right now inside the Democratic Party, including this growing group between David Hogg and Malcolm Kinnata, what do you see as the future?
15:24I'm sorry, I missed that.
15:26They have a rift right now for the last year, so including that rift.
15:30What do you see as the future direction of the party, and how do you anticipate in any way that this can translate to what you're doing here in the House?
15:41Well, I think, you know, as House Democrats we remain strongly unified and, you know, look forward to our continued partnership with Senate Democrats, governors across the country,
15:51Democratic attorney generals, other stakeholders, elected officials, unions, and, of course, the Democratic National Committee to continue to make our case to the American people and win elections.
16:07It's interesting to me that we continue to navigate these sensational narratives when, as far as I can tell, from the very beginning of this presidency, Democrats are winning and Republicans are losing.
16:25Right?
16:26This is not a speculative theory at this point.
16:32What exactly is confusing to people observing the state of the Democratic Party versus the state of the Republican Party based on five months consecutively of electoral data?
16:49What exactly is confusing at this point in time?
16:53There's a special election in January in Iowa.
16:56It was a district that Donald Trump had just won by 21 points in a state Senate district that's in a swing congressional district that we will win next year.
17:12And the Democrats won that state Senate seat in Iowa.
17:17That was in January.
17:18And then in February, there's a high profile special election in New York because the Westchester County executive seat was vacant.
17:27It was held by a Democrat who's now in Congress, George Latimer.
17:30He's doing a great job.
17:31Before Latimer held it, it was held for eight years by a MAGA Republican, Rob Astorino.
17:37Trump endorses the Republican candidate in February in that special election, who then loses to the Democrat by 30 points.
17:51And then in March, there's a special election in the state Senate district in Pennsylvania, a district that Donald Trump had just won by 15 points.
18:02As far as we can tell, no Democrat in recent memory in the 20th or 21st century has ever represented Lancaster County until now.
18:15Because the Democrat won in the swing state of Pennsylvania in March.
18:23And then in April, Elon Musk spent $25 million in Wisconsin, a state that Donald Trump had just won in what was widely viewed as a competitive election for the state Supreme Court seat that was open.
18:42And the Democrats won decisively in a swing state, defeating the MAGA extremists who was backed by Donald Trump and company by double digits.
18:55And then just this week, in Omaha, Nebraska, in another electoral upset, the Democratic candidate, John Ewing Jr., defeats the incumbent Republican mayor by 13 points.
19:14This is happening all over the country.
19:19Five consecutive months.
19:22So if that's losing, what does winning look like?
19:27I'm confused.
19:29We have a very clear, quantifiably evident roadmap as to how Democrats are doing in this country and how Republicans are doing during this Trump era.
19:49Have you had any contact with the Department of Homeland Security or Justice about what happened with your members in New York?
19:58No.
20:01Thank you, Leader.
20:02Congressman Al Green faced a censure vote and several Democrats did vote in favor of censuring or voted present.
20:09Are you concerned that could happen this time around with these three Democrats in New Jersey?
20:14No.
20:16Yesterday in the morning, it seemed as though Congressman Therese Thanedar was going to introduce a resolution to bring up impeachment.
20:25By the end of the day, that had been canceled or changed.
20:29Were there any conversations throughout the day with the Congressmen and the leadership about that effort?
20:35The decision by Congressman Therese Thanedar not to proceed with his resolution speaks for itself.
20:44Earlier today, several House Democrats held a press conference outside calling on Speaker Johnson to put up the flag honoring the January 6th first responders.
20:56Is there anything you can do as a minority leader to try and force them to put it up?
21:05This is Police Week, and it's a week where we honor the service and the sacrifice, the heroism, the courage, and the bravery of the law enforcement community.
21:15And also pay our respects to those fallen officers and support the families of those officers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
21:29In the context of Police Week, it seems to us that respecting the members of the Capitol Police Department, the Metropolitan Police Department, federal, state, and local law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol,
21:49the Constitution, the Constitution, and the country on January 6th is something that should happen immediately.
22:01There was a law that was passed in 2022 requiring a plaque to be placed in a position of honor on the Western Front of the Capitol.
22:15By March 15th of 2023, listing the names of the brave officers who defended us as members of Congress on that fateful day on January 6th against a violent mob.
22:35About 140 officers were seriously injured as a result of defending the Capitol.
22:45And several subsequently died as it relates to things that unfolded on that day.
22:57This is where there's a clear difference between Democrats and Republicans.
23:02House Democrats have made clear we're going to respect and honor those law enforcement officials and police officers who defended this Capitol on January 6th.
23:15Republicans would rather pardon violent felons who attacked police officers on that day.
23:25That's what they've done.
23:27That's what they've done.
23:28Pardoned thousands of people who were part of that violent mob, many of whom who brutally beat police officers and are now back at home across the country threatening the safety and well-being of people in the United States of America.
23:48It's outrageous.
23:49It's outrageous.
23:50And on the House floor yesterday when we asked for unanimous consent to discharge legislation that would make this happen, the Republicans rejected it.
24:01Why?
24:02Because they don't support honoring those officers on January 6th.
24:09And they should be held to account for it.
24:13The reason why the law hasn't been complied with and a plaque hasn't been erected is because Republicans directed by their puppet master Donald Trump have been told, try to erase January 6th.
24:28As if it has never happened.
24:33A race January 6th, you pardoned violent felons who brutally attacked police officers on January 6th as part of some effort, perhaps to overturn the results of an election where Donald Trump was defeated by Joe Biden.
24:53And we're going to stay on this case until the officers who defended the capital of the United States of America on January 6th are treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve.