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Sticking with the shutdown, his tensions are rising on at Capitol Hill. House Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries of New York is confident a spending bill can pass, but says Republicans must first address what he calls healthcare crisis. House Leader Jeffries joins US now. Congressman, thank you so much for being with us. House Leader, I want to just start with whether you feel confident that you can complete some
sort of agreement in the next few days. Do you have a time frame as these discussions do continue.
Welcome morning, great to be with you. You know, as Democrats, we've repeatedly made clear we will sit down anytime, any place with anyone, either here at Capitol Hill or back at the White House, in order to reopen the government, to enact the spending bill that actually meets the needs of the American people as opposed to hurting everyday Americans, and of course, that spending bill must decisively addressed the Republican healthcare crisis that is hurting working class Americans and
middle class Americans all throughout the country, including as it relates to the urgent need to reauthorize and extend the Affordable Care ACTAX credits.
Well, the Speaker told us yesterday that Congress is having these talks when it comes to subsidies reform. Are you part of these talks? And just a quick condolences because I know you, like me, were up late watching the Yankees lose and I know you're a huge fan. Minority Leader Jeffries, Well, thank you.
They had a great season. Unfortunately it didn't end the way that we expected, but on to next year. With respect to what the Speaker has indicated, there's been no conversation between House Republicans and House Democrats. Are between the Republican Party, Donald Trump, the administration, and any of us on Capitol Hill, including conversations that should be taking place with Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats since that White House
meeting that occurred last Monday. That's unfortunate, and the behavior of Republicans since that point in time has been unseerious and erratic, and we continue to urge them to find a path forward, to sit down, let's talk, exercise common sense on behalf of the American people. But anything that's done has to address this urgent need. You know, the
open enrollment period starts on November first. Over the next few weeks, tens of millions of Americans are going to receive notices indicating that their premiums, copaids, and deductibles are about to skyrocket, in many instances by thousands of dollars
per year. People are going to go without health insurance, face medical bankruptcy, and be jammed up in a situation where they need care for themselves, their children, and their families, but will be unable to access it because they'll be without health insurance.
It was a democratic policy.
Though your party voted for this temporary subsidy increase, Do you regret having an expiration.
Date on this No.
We were able to extend it through the end of this year in full anticipation that any reasonable member of Congress will understand that you cannot kick tens of millions of Americans off of healthcare that's become affordable for them
as a result of the tax credits. Unfortunately, Republicans chose earlier this year to pass their one big, ugly bill, largest cut to medici in American history, ripped food away from the mouths of hungry children and seniors and veterans, and they did all of this to pay for massive tax breaks that they made permanent for their billionaire donors well at the same time refusing to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which is why we find ourselves in this situation right now.
Leader Jeffries.
Some people would argue that what the Republicans are offering is to have a clean, continuing resolution and to continue negotiating this given the fact that at the same time, they're going to be service members who are not going to be paid. There's going to be a question around food stamps and whether they're going to be funded. Air traffic controllers are calling out sick because they're not receiving paychecks.
At what point do you just say.
Look, we need to keep people getting paid, and we can keep talking.
We want to reopen the government, and we want to reopen it immediately, but we also need to enact a spending agreement that actually improves the quality of life of the American people as opposed to hurting everyday Americans, which Republicans have been doing all throughout this year, and they've they've refused to negotiate at every step of the way throughout this year. They've taken a my way or the
highway approach. They've gone it alone, and now we find ourselves dealing with this mess of this Republican healthcare crisis, and time has run out.
Leader Jeffries, do you think that you've gotten more leverage as this process has gone on, or do you think that it's actually waiting?
Well, it's actually not about leverage for us. It's about the American people. That's the fight that we're waging, particularly in an environment where the cost of living is way too high. People are already paying too much for groceries, for housing, for their electricity bills, and now, of course they're confronting the very real possibility of being bankrupted by the rising costs of their health insurance. So we're just
asking Republicans to sit down and negotiate. That's what should take place, not simply a my way or the highway approach, particularly when they're asking Democrats to support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the health care of the American people.
Right now, Republicans are asking is to support a clean continuous resolution, a scop gap funding measure, which we've seen time and time again that Democrats also wanted Republicans to support in the fast past. Why are Democrats choosing to keep the government shut?
That's a Republican talking point, unfortunately, that they are putting into the public domain. It's not a clean continuing resolution. Why isn't it in large Well, I'd be happy to explain that. In March, the Republicans passed a partisan bill in the House that Democrats strongly opposed. We opposed that spending bill because it hurt veterans, hurt children and families, it hurt housing affordability, and it hurt healthcare because of
the cuts that were included in it. There was actually a bipartisan spending agreement that we reached last December that passed overwhelmingly in the House and in the Senate. It was signed into law by President Joe Biden, and it had to support of then President elect Donald Trump. That would have been a clean spending agreement that could have
been put before the Congress. Instead, they passed this partisan Republican spending bill in March that we strongly opposed, and now they want us to continue to sign off on that particular bill that also includes five hundred million dollars in cuts to law enforcement grants. To support police officers all across the country. That's just not something for a variety of reasons we can support at this particular point in time.
Do you think the Democratic Party could commit to broader reforms when it comes to the Affordable Care Act and keeping less of the subsidies.
Could this be potential off ramp for a deal.
I think that our view, certainly in the House, is that we will evaluate in good faith any bipartisan proposal that is sent over to us from the Senate if it decisively addresses the Republican healthcare crisis with respect to the Affordable Care Act, tax credits, extensions, or any other issues that may be put on the table. Because of the enormity of the attack on the healthcare of the American people that Republicans have waged this year, it's got
to be meaningful. It's got to actually improve the lives of the American people. But unlike Republicans who have adopted this my way or the highway approach, we are actually willing to down and evaluate in good faith anything that could advance the ball here for working class Americans, middle class Americans, and everyday Americans.
Is there an opportunity for standalone legislation to make sure that the more than one million active duty service members get paid next week.
Certainly, our view in the House is that we should stand by our men and women in uniform and make sure that they do not miss a paycheck. Unfortunately, Speaker Johnson has ruled that out, saying it's not really an issue that he's prepared to deal with, in part because Republicans cancel votes last week, cancel votes this week, Apparently they may not be coming back next week. And what
is that all for. Why are they on vacation in the middle of a government shutdown, particularly as it relates to the real possibility that our military families might miss a paycheck that they cannot afford to miss. We're urging Republicans to get back into town us to deal with the military pay issue, allow us to deal with the Republican healthcare crisis, and allow us to reopen the government so we can enact the spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people.
Peter Jeffries, we also saw a pretty explosive argument between you and the fellow New York Congressman Mike Lawler, and then you proceeded to call Lawler an embarrassment on television. Was this fight representative the state tensions that are going on within the Republican Party in New York State right now?
Well, Maga, Mike Lawler is an irrelevant individual. He's a clout chaser, and he was stalking the Democratic leadership press conference in ways that are unhinged. And you know, at the end of the day, our view is the people who need to sit down and have the conversation with US Republican leadership in the House and in the Senate.
The Trump administration, including the President or the Vice president or anyone that they designate, are the ones who are ultimate going to determine how we can find a biprotesstant path out of it. And we look forward to having those conversations, but unfortunately Republicans to date have declined to do that.
Well, what was he doing that you deem unhinged? And have you spoken to him since? Have tensions cooled? It doesn't sound like they have.
Isn't a relevant individual And as I indicated, his behavior clearly speaks for itself, complete and total embarrassment. As a description was a polite use of words leader.
There's a question here about how difficult it is to get to unify the Democratic Party because this is somebody who is a Republican.
He's not irrelevant in his district.
And there is a question here, especially in New York, how to get some sort of cohesive.
Message as a Democrat.
I'm just wondering from your perspective, especially as it relates to the Democratic mayoral race in New York City.
You have an endorsed or on Mumdannie, how.
Difficult is it to get sort of a leadership view of where the Democratic Party.
Is going to go?
Oh well, listen. As Democrats, what unites us is that we believe in a strong flow and no ceiling. At the end of the day, in America, you work hard, you play by the rules, there should be no ceiling to your success in terms of what you can achieve for yourself, for your family, and for your children. At the same point in time, we also believe that in this great country, the wealthiest country in the history of
the world, that we need a strong flow. That strong flow includes social security and Medicare, Medicaid, supplemental nutritional assistance,
veterans benefits, and of course the Affordable Care Act. And what unites Democrats at this particular point in time is the fact that Republicans are assaulting the flow that we should have for everyday Americans while at the same time rewarding their billionaire donors, and by the way, in doing so, skyrocketing the debt by more than three trillion dollars in such a fiscally irresponsible fashion.
Leader Jeffries, you did tell reporters last month you plan to address the mayor race in New York soon.
Do you have a plan to endorse Zoramamdani.
We're in the middle of a government shutdown. People are being hurt all across the country because Trump and Republicans decided to shut down the government rather than provide healthcare to working class Americans. And so what I've indicated, particularly most recently when Mayor Adams decided that he wouldn't seek re election, is that I will have more to say about the mayor's race in advance of early voting in New York City, which begins at the end of this month.
Host Minority Leader haw Keem Jeffrey, thank you so much for your time