LIVE: Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries Holds Weekly Press Conference

Good morning, everyone. House Democrats remain completely united in our effort to lower the high cost of living for everyday Americans, fix our broken healthcare system, and clean up corruption in this town so we are actually delivering a government that makes life better for the American people. House Republicans are in complete disarray because they have no track record of accomplishment with respect to making life better for the American people. Costs aren't going down in the United States of America. Costs are going up. Healthcare premiums are about to skyrocket and cost everyday Americans thousands of dollars more a year. That is a crippling increase in healthcare costs that Republicans are completely and totally responsible for visiting on the American people. Electricity bills are skyrocketing through the roof in part because of the damage that Republicans have done to the ability for America to generate the power that it needs connected to the one big ugly bill. Donald Trump remains deeply unpopular. Democrats continue to win special elections all across the country. Their effort to gerrymander the midterm elections by rigging these congressional maps is going to backfire and Republicans know that their one big ugly bill is deeply unpopular. So much so that they actually think they can improve the view that the American people have relative to the one big ugly bill by changing the name. No, the problem is not the name which was chosen by Donald Trump and the sycophants in the house, of course obliged. The problem is that you ripped away healthcare from millions of Americans. Hospitals are closing including rural America. Nursing homes will shut down. Healthcare premiums, co-pays and deductibles are skyrocketing. You stole food from the mouths of hungry children, seniors and veterans and all of that was done so Republicans could award their billionaire donors massive tax breaks. That is why the one big ugly bill is deeply unpopular and no matter what branding change you undertake, that's the reality that you confront. Questions? Morning. One on crime and also one on oversight. Tomorrow, House Oversight is expected to meet with another staffer of President Biden's. Are you curious? Are you concerned that this could linger going into the midterms, that this is a story that will just continue to pop up right before us? Why are Republicans so obsessed with former President Joe Biden? What does any of that have to do with the fact that costs are through the roof, the cost of living is far too high and Republicans haven't done a damn thing about it? One of the reasons why costs continue to go up, not down, is because Republicans have shown no interest in addressing the economy and building one that actually everyday Americans can afford. On crime, this week DC's mayor pledged further cooperation with the federal government. Is this a sign that maybe other Democrats should follow her lead? I mean, this is clearly a big change of tone from the DC mayor. Also, you've been back now for a few days, does DC feel any safer compared to when you guys left for recess? I haven't seen a difference one way or the other, but I spent a lot of time in and around the Capitol. One thing I will continue to make clear is that we should support the Metropolitan Police Department, support the Chicago Police Department, support the New York Police Department, and support local law enforcement all across America. And what we should be doing is giving them the ability to do their jobs. With the resources they need to continue to protect and serve. Republicans have actually cut funding for local law enforcement. What does that have to do with making communities safe? And so, we're going to continue to make clear we're focused on keeping communities safe all across America. And in my humble opinion, the best way to do that is to support local law enforcement, local police departments, and local partnerships between the police and the community. On that subject, the House Oversight Committee, particularly Republicans, are preparing a slate of like 14 or so bills to try and address DC. One of them is to potentially remove the local Attorney General and place a political appointee that would be appointed by the President. How are House Democrats, as you're eyeing this, developed? How are you all going to try and either prevent this, stop this, publicly let, or let the public know that this is happening? Why aren't House Republicans so focused on the District of Columbia when there are more than 330 million Americans all across the country, many of whom they represent, whose lives Republicans have failed to improve? Whose lives Republicans have failed to make more affordable? Whose lives Republicans are ruining by ripping healthcare away from millions of Americans and closing down their hospitals, including in rural America? It's perplexing to all of us. They have a meeting earlier this week and they're presenting information from the White House and the Trump administration and their political folks, which makes clear that their one big ugly bill is a complete and total disaster. And yet they continue to double and triple down on these matters that have nothing to do with improving the quality of life of the American people. It's strange to me. They continue to dig their own grave. Kevin? Obviously, I'm sure you saw there was a reporting in the New York Times and Politico in the last 24 hours that the Trump administration is toying with potential jobs for Eric Adams. That would be breaking news. I'm wondering, first off, your reaction to all of this and also put this within the context of, do you think you could assuage some of this outside meddling if you were to take a position in this race? I don't really fully understand the notion of the outside meddling and how it is going to benefit anyone because Donald Trump and the Republican brand is toxic in New York City, as is the case in so many other parts of the country. It's speculation as far as I'm concerned right now, but I don't see it having any political benefit for any of the people who are allegedly connected to some effort led by Donald Trump and the administration to change the trajectory of the New York City mayoral race. How long until stay tuned is no longer a tease and a reality? Stay tuned. Have you made any progress in starting four-quarters negotiations in appropriations? And then if those do begin or if they have begun, how much of a red line will this ACA issue be for Democrats? Healthcare is a clear red line. We will not support a partisan Republican spending bill that rips healthcare away from the American people. House Republicans have launched an all-out assault on the healthcare of the American people. They have ended Medicaid as we know it. They are assaulting the Affordable Care Act. Medicare is likely to experience a $500 billion cut because of the Republican one big ugly bill. Hospitals and nursing homes and community-based health clinics are going to close because of what Republicans have done with their all-out assault on healthcare in America. We've been very clear as Democrats. We will not support a partisan Republican spending bill that guts healthcare from the American people. Period. Full stop. We've said it publicly. We've said it privately. We'll continue to say it. And Republicans clearly don't get it because the Labor H appropriations bill that House Republicans support continues the assault on public health and the healthcare of the American people. What do they not understand about the moment that we find ourselves in and why their one big ugly bill is so unpopular and has been rejected by the American people? Thank you, Mr. Leader. Let's talk about the farm bill. The extension will soon run out. There doesn't seem to be much consensus between the two sides about how to move forward. What's your level of concern given all of the other issues at play? I know government funding is top of mind. I know the D.C. takeover. But what's your message to Americans about the farm bill given the snap cuts that were in the reconciliation law? Just give me your sense of your level of concern about the lack of progress on a five-year farm bill. Well, extreme Republicans have made it very difficult to achieve a bipartisan farm bill as a result of including in the one big ugly bill, the largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history. That's extraordinary. These Republicans are going to cause people in their own districts to go hungry, including children and seniors and veterans. I have complete and total trust in the Democrats on the Ag Committee, including ranking member Angie Craig. And we'll see what House Republicans put on the table. But they have not been acting in good faith. And as a result, they are making life more challenging for the farmers of America, including by creating a difficult situation in terms of trying to arrive at a bipartisan farm bill for the next five years. Thank you. Appreciate it. You mentioned you thought redistricting was going to backfire on Republicans. I'm curious, why do you think that? And more broadly, is there a concern that if district lines are constantly changing around the country, that it might discourage people from running for Congress if they know that this is such instability? We need one national redistricting standard to prevent the type of toxic shenanigans that Donald Trump and Republicans are engaging in by trying to gerrymander congressional maps in the middle of the decade to try to rig the midterm elections. That's a Democratic position, and it has always been that. The problem, of course, is that we have Republicans who are trying to play by a different set of rules. And the Democratic position has been, we will not play by a different set of rules. We will continue to forcefully, aggressively, and immediately respond, just as we did in California. Republicans were apparently operating under the misguided notion that we were going to let them get away with trying to rig the midterm elections without a forceful response. They were badly mistaken. And at the end of the day, it's not going to work out well for them. And they will not be able to mathematically rig the midterm elections, which is what their original intention was when this process started. House Republicans know they can't mathematically get to an outcome that will stop us from taking back the majority. We know it. The only person who doesn't seem to know it yet is Donald Trump. When you say backfire, are you talking about a voter backlash or just the Democratic response in states like California? Both. There is a clear voter backlash, even in Texas. This effort is unpopular. And by the way, Republicans took a gerrymandered map in Texas that already violated the Voting Rights Act, and they made it worse. And so what they've done is strengthen our case that the Texas congressional map violates both the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution and Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. And we look forward to the court hearing that is going to take place next month. You said earlier this week that every one of you embraces generational change. I spoke to several of your members between then and now. A lot of them don't embrace generational change. Who exactly would that be? Let's take Steny Hoyer as an example, and we can go down the list of each and every one of those people that you mentioned. Steny Hoyer was the House majority leader, a phenomenal leader for the country. So was Nancy Pelosi. And so was Jim Clyburn. It's not hypothetical that they embrace generational change. They all decided not to seek reelection to their leadership positions voluntarily and were very explicit that they were going to open the door for a new generation of Democrats to lead the caucus moving forward. That happened. It's not hypothetical. No one's making that up. That's what's called embracing generational change. And the generational change that took place in the House of Representatives several years ago was unanimous for every single one of us. Now, every single one of you follow the last several caucus races to lead committees. And whether we're talking about the Natural Resources Committee, the House Judiciary Committee, the Ag Committee, most recently the Oversight Committee. I think what we've seen is that the caucus has embraced leadership from a new generation of members, every single one of those races. Now, with respect to individual contests back at home, I strongly support John Larson's reelection because he's a great advocate. He's a forceful advocate. And so when I'm talking about generational change and how it's been embraced by members of the House Democratic Caucus, I'm talking about from a caucus perspective, facilitating the next generation of leaders. As it relates to both traditional House leadership positions, we led on generational change, House Democrats. And we can thank Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn for that in 2022, three years ago. And that has continued as we've seen races for committee leadership positions. Can I just quickly follow up? Yeah. Activists from groups like Run for Something, Leaders We Deserve, Justice Democrats, they say inter-caucus generational change isn't enough, that it has to happen at the district level. Do you disagree with that? I think that the House of Representatives is about renewal. It's one of the great things about the House. But every single congressional district and the electorate in those congressional districts are going to make a decision about who is best positioned to represent that congressional district moving forward. That's an individual decision that should be made by voters in these congressional districts all across the country. House Democrats and every single member of this great institution, we're on a two-year employment contract. That was by design in terms of the framers. They said, we want this institution to be the closest to the American people. We run for office knowing that we're on a two-year employment contract. We have to constantly go back to the voters to have that contract renewed based on whether we are doing a good job or not. That's a decision that will continue to be made by the voters in each and every one of these congressional districts. And they'll make it in the context of primaries in some instances, or they'll make it in the context of general elections in others. Paul? Thank you. What do you think about the decision of President Trump to remove six of the seven members of the Puerto Rico fiscal board? One of those is a person that you recommended, and I would like to know if the White House already contacted you about the new recommendation. I'm in close touch with Nydia Velazquez, as well as Pablo Hernandez and other leaders in the caucus as it relates to the White House's continued attack on the ability of Puerto Rico to actually meet its fiscal responsibilities in a way that lifts up the people of Puerto Rico as opposed to having things dictated to them. And so we'll have more to say on this issue, but I'm going to say it in partnership with the leaders of the House Democratic Caucus who have close connections to the island, including the island's resident commissioner. Any communication from the White House? No. Thanks. Thank you, Leader. The DNC posted in support of Zohan Mondani's campaign yesterday with a statement of Mondani saying we welcome anyone to join this movement. You've met with him twice and stay tuned, you know, decline to endorse him. Are you out of step with your party on this issue? I don't know. I guess people are going to have to figure that out, if that's the question you think that my constituents are asking me, because they're not. Thanks. Number of Democrats are supporting a congressional stock trading bill that does not apply as of yet to the vice president or the president. And they're saying they, if necessary, would sign on to a discharge petition. Would you ever vote to advance a bill like that that does not cover President Trump? We have to clean up corruption in Washington, D.C. That's in Congress, that's in the Supreme Court, and that's with the administration. In terms of the congressional stock ban, it is clearly something that has to happen. And Democrats have been leading on this effort. In terms of the individual bills, we'll have to have a caucus conversation about what is the best approach and what's achievable. But this is the most corrupt administration in American history. Donald Trump and his administration make Richard Nixon look like a choir boy. And so clearly something is going to have to be done. But figuring out the right legislative vehicle is the subject of a discussion by the caucus. Okay. Back. Thank you. Can I ask about two separate issues? First, are you in favor of the general council being a midterm convention? Have you identified who you want January 6th for a committee that was approved yesterday? I'm in conversation with Jamie Raskin about the January 6th so-called committee. And we will aggressively and forcefully push back against any effort to try to whitewash what happened on January 6th, where a mob of violent individuals attacked the Capitol as part of an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election at the direction of Donald Trump. With respect, what was your first question? If you're in favor of a midterm convention. Yeah, no one has talked to me about this idea of a midterm convention. So it's not a proposal that has been subject to any serious discussion at this point. Last question. Yeah, the president is hosting Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Bill Gates, one other two dozen tech CEOs tonight at the White House for a dinner in the New Rose Garden. I wonder what your reaction to that dinner is. Yeah, I don't know what the subject of the discussion is, so I'll reserve comment. But it would be useful if the president actually decided to convene a discussion with people on Capitol Hill related to how we lower the high cost of living in the United States of America, fix our broken healthcare system, and clean up corruption. That's what Democrats are focused on, and it's clear that Republicans have a very different agenda. And then I just want to follow up. Thank you, everyone. The DOJ is launching a probe into Lisa Cook. Any reaction to that? Listen, the Department of Justice continues to try to weaponize the federal government against people who have declined to bend the knee to Donald Trump and his extremism. We will not be intimidated by the Department of Justice. We're going to push back forcefully and aggressively and righteously.