- 6/10/2025
House Democratic leadership held a press briefing on Tuesday.
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00:00I'm grateful as always to be joined by caucus vice chair Ted Lieu and today we're joined by
00:10chair Susan Del Bene who shared an update this morning about our path to the house majority in
00:172026. House Democrats are winning on the economy. We are winning on health care and we're going to
00:23win back the fight for the American people to lead this country at this moment. In the weak
00:28and cowardly actions of Donald Trump are evidence of this. Just a few days ago the world's richest man
00:34and Donald Trump's biggest campaign contributor betrayed the president and called on Republicans
00:39in the Senate to kill Trump's signature piece of legislation which throws 16 million people
00:45off of their health insurance to pay for more tax breaks for billionaires. Elon Musk did this not to
00:51protect the people who rely on Medicaid and food assistance to meet their basic needs but because
00:57the bill doesn't go far enough to enrich him and his companies. Musk even said that Trump's reckless
01:04tariffs will cause a recession. Trump knows all of this. He knows that the Republican budget
01:10is politically toxic. He knows that the economy is crashing because of his policies and he is
01:17desperate to change the subject. He sees the protests in Los Angeles as an excuse to unleash more chaos
01:24and distract the American people from the failing economy and his plans to cut Medicaid and food
01:30assistance. Remember, Donald Trump refused to call up the National Guard on January 6th when thousands
01:38of violent rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in search of his own vice president. This isn't about law
01:45and order or protecting public safety. Donald Trump wants conflict and violence. House Democrats stand on the
01:53side of peaceful protests and condemn the violence that Donald Trump is rooting for. We will continue to
01:59fight for a stronger economy and lower costs. Vice Chair Ted Lute. Thank you, Chairman Aguilar.
02:05Peacefully protesting is an American right. It's part of the rich tradition of our country. Burning cars, looting,
02:13and destroying property are crimes. And anyone who takes advantage of this situation and engages those crimes
02:19should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. State and local law enforcement have repeatedly
02:25said they have the resources necessary to handle the situation. It is completely un-American and
02:33needlessly provocative for Donald Trump to deploy National Guard and Marines to Southern California.
02:40So I'm going to talk about the National Guard first. The legal authority Trump is using is 10 U.S.C.
02:46Section 12406. I encourage all of you to read it. It very specifically says the only way he can do
02:53this is through the orders of the governors of the states. Governor Newsom clearly has not given this
02:59order. The National Guard troops are following unlawful orders. I asked every National Guard person who
03:06was under this order to read the order to see if it came from Governor Newsom and then to read the law
03:12and then decide for themselves if they are following unlawful orders. Also turns out that when Secretary
03:19Hexeth ordered this deployment and carrying out those orders, he put all these troops into Southern
03:25California without federal funding for food, water, fuel, equipment. They were sleeping on the floor. They're
03:31sleeping on each other. It is a complete mess. Secretary Hexeth's repeated incompetence is next level. He needs to resign.
03:40And in terms of the Marine deployment, we should not be deploying Marines against Americans. Marines are trained
03:47to kill the enemy. What are they going to do at this protest? I mean, are they going to shoot protesters? What
03:53exactly is a role? They are not trained to do crowd control. They are not trained to handle these kinds of
04:00situations. They are not trained for law enforcement. So I asked the president to rescind his orders. He's being
04:06needlessly provocative and inflammatory. And Chairman Aguilar is right. He is losing on his big, ugly bill.
04:13It is going to give massive tax breaks to billionaires. And it's going to be funded by the greatest health care cuts in U.S.
04:21history. So do not fall for the trap that the president is laying here with his shiny objects he's trying to do.
04:27Focus on how he's messing up the economy, messing up your health care. And with that, I want to introduce our amazing DCCC
04:34chair, Susan DelBene from Washington. She's going to be the field general that leads us to flipping the house next year.
04:44Thanks, Chair Aguilar and Vice Chair Liu. This morning in caucus, we presented research on how House Republicans will lose the majority next year because of their one big broken promise.
04:55It's been only two weeks since House Republicans narrowly passed their legislation. And the more people learn about it, the more unpopular it becomes. Across the country, Americans have come out strongly against this tax scam. They've held protests outside of Republicans' district offices against the cuts to Medicaid and nutrition programs.
05:16And in the very few in-person town halls that Republicans have held, we've seen incredibly large crowds turn out in opposition to their legislation.
05:27But despite the overwhelming local opposition to the big, ugly bill from their constituents, vulnerable House Republicans are embracing it and resorting to lies when talking about it.
05:38Well, they can lie all they want, but there's no denying the objective harm that it will cause. Independent, nonpartisan analysts have said, instead of lowering costs for everyday people, House Republicans' big, ugly bill raises costs on them.
05:55It will kick 16 million Americans off of their health insurance. It cuts food assistance programs like free school lunch. It takes a chainsaw to these popular programs to pay for tax breaks for the wealthiest few.
06:10This big, ugly bill affirms everything voters already think about Republicans, that they don't work for the American people. They work for the billionaire class.
06:19It's clear that public support for the Republican agenda is cratering. Recent public polling shows that a majority of voters in House Republican battleground districts oppose the bill.
06:31They also revealed that most Americans agree the GOP tax scam will help the wealthy and hurt working families.
06:39These public surveys line up with the internal research we've done in partnership with our Senate colleagues, and it's what we presented to the caucus this morning.
06:48We found that just 25% of voters think the GOP tax scam will help them and their families.
06:56The same internal research showed that Republicans' massive cuts to popular programs are toxic with voters.
07:03We see there is clear argument that is incredibly persuasive to voters.
07:07Instead of lowering costs, Republicans are raising costs, cutting health care and food assistance to pay for billionaire tax giveaways.
07:16This vote is the defining contrast of the midterms.
07:21Remember, every single vulnerable House Republican voted for this disastrous piece of legislation.
07:27And since it passed by one vote, each one casts the deciding vote.
07:33Any one of them could have stood up to stop it, but instead they sided with the ultra-wealthy, while costs are out of control and everyday Americans are struggling.
07:42With this vote, vulnerable House Republicans have already sealed their political fate, and it's one that they will come to regret next year when House Democrats retake the majority.
07:54I'll turn it back to you.
07:56Thank you, Susan.
07:57Questions?
07:59Nick?
08:00A little while up here, Congressman Yvette Clark, chair of the Black Caucus, said that the deployment of troops in L.A. could be an impeachable offense.
08:08Do you believe this is impeachable?
08:11Well, I've said before from this podium that House Democrats aren't focused on impeachment today.
08:18We are focused on holding the president and House Republicans accountable for their policies that attack the basic needs, like health care and food assistance, that their policies are leading with.
08:29There will be plenty of time when Susan DelBene guides us to the majority for us to exercise oversight, where we can ask some very difficult questions, the policies that this administration is doing currently.
08:42But right now, that isn't our focus.
08:46Andrew?
08:47With regards to ICE more generally, beyond just what we're seeing in California, as an Appropriations Committee member, if Democrats retake the House in 2026, do you think that the appropriations process should be used to try to make some reforms at ICE based on what we've seen in the last few months?
09:06But first, what we need to do is have an appropriations process that works.
09:11Right now, House Republicans are wrapped around the axle, bending over backwards, trying to do everything that Donald Trump wants.
09:20And so they're marking up bills that are incomplete.
09:23And we're going to see that full committee markup start today, this afternoon.
09:27We just heard from Secretary Hegseth, and then 30 minutes later, we go and mark up the subcommittee bill on defense, and we'll have that in front of the full committee on Thursday.
09:42These bills are incomplete.
09:44But the second point I would say is the administration and Donald Trump have to follow the appropriations bills.
09:51Tom Cole said months ago that these were advisory.
09:54So which House Republican message are we going to get?
10:01Are appropriations bills law, or are they advisory, and it's up to the administration and Article 2 to interpret?
10:09We don't know.
10:10We need to know that House Republicans believe in the appropriations process, and we will use that to make policy changes that are important with respect to funding government.
10:22That's how we've always done, and we've respected, Democrats and Republicans have respected that process over the years.
10:30And when we were in control, we did make changes to appropriations bills that got to core policies that were important to us, and we'll do the same when we're in the majority next time.
10:42Ryan.
10:44Thank you, Chairman.
10:45The USDA has expected a rollout initiative to essentially prevent people on SNAP programs from using SNAP benefits to purchase sugary drinks.
10:54Is that something Democrats would support or oppose?
10:58What we know is that these basic needs programs are under assault by Donald Trump and House Republicans.
11:06Their own reconciliation plan would cut hundreds of billions of dollars, over $200 billion, out of the Department of Agriculture and these food nutrition programs.
11:17We agree in healthy diets, we agree that there are choices that people can make that will both expand the money that is given to them and ensure healthier lives.
11:32What we also know is that these programs, like Food Nutrition and WIC, go to the neediest of Americans.
11:39They go to people who are just trying to buy formula and food for their families.
11:45That is under attack with the House Republican Reconciliation Plan, and that's what we're focused on.
11:53There's plenty of opportunity for committees to work through what this looks like and what the definition of a sugary drink is, and that's a fair conversation for us to have.
12:03But let's not lose sight that these programs are under attack by Donald Trump and House Republicans.
12:11We've seen Democrats give some contradictory views on the L.A. riots.
12:17We have Senator John Fetterman, who has called them anarchy and true chaos, and we have Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who's denied that any violence has taken place.
12:27How would you characterize what we're seeing from these individuals in L.A. right now with Waymo's lit on fire and stores looted and things of that nature?
12:37Here's the reality.
12:40Local authorities have this under control.
12:43There are a couple square blocks where a police presence is needed.
12:47A police presence, not a military presence.
12:49A police presence might be needed, and that should be the focus of local law enforcement.
12:56What Donald Trump is doing is inflaming those tensions.
13:00But as the vice chair said, anyone who is lawless or lutes or commits a crime should be punished.
13:06That is the House Democratic Caucus position.
13:09What we do believe is in peaceful protest and in people being able to exercise their ability to observe ICE agents carrying on their activity, as well as standing on a street corner and holding a sign and speaking out and speaking their mind.
13:25That is completely appropriate activity, and what Donald Trump is doing is inflaming that by sending in the Marines and by mobilizing the National Guard under dubious legal rationale, as the vice chair mentioned.
13:40But I would argue listen to the L.A. members.
13:44I'm from Southern California.
13:45I'll defer to my colleague who represents L.A. County.
13:49But this is something that local law enforcement clearly has under control, and the images on TV keep showing the same burning car over and over.
14:0199 percent of the city is moving on, just as business as usual.
14:08I'm glad you brought up the burning cars.
14:09So burning way more cars is despicable, and I urge that those folks be prosecuted who engage in that action.
14:17And the National Guard could have done nothing about it, because the unlawful orders they were given say they are to protect federal property, federal buildings, and federal personnel.
14:29That has nothing to do with way more cars.
14:31So even if they were right there at the scene, there was literally nothing they could have done without violating their orders.
14:37And let's say Marines at the scene.
14:39What would you want these Marines to do, like shoot these people?
14:41It's ridiculous to have Marines there.
14:45This is a law enforcement activity that should be handled by state and local law enforcement, not the United States Marines.
14:52They are not trained to do this.
14:55Questions?
14:56So the oversight election for ranking members is about two weeks away.
15:02Has leadership decided who they are willing to endorse for that post?
15:06Our responsibility as a vice chair and I, our responsibilities are to conduct the election.
15:11I don't think any of our colleagues on June 24th would want us to conduct the election if we were rooting for someone.
15:17So we're going to conduct the election in a way that is appropriate, and all of the candidates for this position know that.
15:28We know them all very well.
15:30Each of them has a skill set and is suited to lead in a variety of areas, and we'll let the caucus decide and we'll respect that decision.
15:38Does leadership have a response to Chairman Comer's expanded investigation into the alleged cover-up of President Biden's mental acuity?
15:48Is this the mental acuity, or is this the auto pen, or, you know, basically everything that Chairman Comer touches turns into a clown car.
15:57I mean, that's just the reality of it.
15:59This is someone who is very unserious about exercising oversight, and that's how we're treating it.
16:08This is not a very serious effort, but he's got to go through what he has to go through to appease the friends of Donald Trump along the way.
16:17Mike.
16:19Your road to the majority in 2026 is going to depend not only on protected frontliners, but also picking up some Republican seats in some of these purple districts.
16:29These are districts where some of the images coming out of L.A. might play to the Republicans' advantage.
16:34So what's your message to the voters in that district that you do believe, one, in free speech, but also protecting law and order, given some of the images that we're seeing on TV?
16:44Just that, that we believe in free speech, and that we believe in law and order.
16:50These two things can go hand in hand.
16:53But our message broadly to that audience is going to be your Republican member of Congress voted to kick hundreds of thousands of people off of their health care and take away their basic needs.
17:04That's exactly what's at stake here, and that's what we're fighting for.
17:09That's the importance of dealing with reconciliation in front of us and the contrast that we will make between now and next November.
17:16But I'll let the chair speak to it.
17:17I agree.
17:20The contrast is a broken promise from Republicans who promised to lower costs on day one and have done nothing to lower costs, have been raising costs, kicking people off of health care, cutting programs that people depend on.
17:33That was the number one issue last election.
17:36It's the number one issue in Americans' minds across the country right now.
17:40They've only seen chaos and dysfunction from this administration, and a Republican Congress was unwilling to stand up for working families.
17:48That's the contrast we'll continue to make.
17:53Thank you very much.