Jeffries: We will take the House from MAGA GOP

Please welcome House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Founder and Chairman of the Board of CAP, John Podesta. Leader, welcome back to the CAP Ideas Conference. Morning, great to be here. Yeah, it's a real honor for us to have you here. I want to get into what you have to live day in and day out in the current Congress, but I want to take us to a happier place to begin with. It's January 3rd, 2027. You've just been sworn in as Speaker of the House. See, they're happy already. What are the two or three big things you're going to want to get done for the American people when that happens? Well, thank you, John, for your friendship and your leadership and to Nira. So appreciate you and to everyone here in the CAP family. It's great to be back. I think our focus, and we're going to continue to relentlessly make this clear over the next few months in advance of taking back control of the House of Representatives. And then when we do in the next Congress, we want to focus on costs, we want to focus on care, and we want to focus on combating corruption. But right at the top of that list is the economy, lowering the high cost of living, dealing with the fact that far too many everyday Americans are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck, can't thrive, and can barely survive. This in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, and it's unacceptable. And the American people have been crying out for this administration or this Congress to do something about lowering the high cost of living, and they failed. And, you know, we define those costs in a variety of different, you know, issue areas that we have to tackle housing, right? Gas, groceries, goods, and utilities in terms of what needs to happen, you know, related to the impact that this environment is having on everyday Americans. Related to that, of course, is care and the cost of it, but also making sure that that care is provided in a high quality way. So clearly that's healthcare, we have a broken healthcare system that Republicans have decimated, unprecedented attack on the healthcare of the American people in all of the things. That's on Medicaid, of course, the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, the attacks on hospitals and nursing homes, community-based health clinics, the Affordable Care Act, vaccine availability, the National Institute of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the FDA, all of the things, unprecedented attack on the healthcare of the American people. We got to fix our broken healthcare system and make sure that what we put in place is the best ever. And then, of course, related to that is child care on the front end and elder care on the back end. And then we certainly feel a responsibility to tackle just the naked corruption that we're seeing, but also connected to the fact that because Republicans are focused on enriching themselves, their family members, and their big donors, they're not focused on solving the problems that the American people want us to solve on their behalf. But there's a related issue, excuse me, that we need to deal with, and that is dramatic reform to the fact that the system is rigged against everyday Americans to benefit, you know, the elites. And that's going to require massive campaign finance reform, massive electoral reform, and yes, massive Supreme Court reform as well. I want to come back to the court, and particularly the Cali decision. But I noted your current circumstances, and you're having to live in a house that really is just on bended knee to the president. But you've been actually been successful in peeling off Republicans and passing by using discharge petitions, the premium tax credits, the release of the Epstein files, the stock trading ban, for example, speaking of corruption, we've just seen the stock trades of the president coming out. How's that worked? How have you gotten Republicans to come over? Is it just the political pressure of their constituents? And is there any hope that you can actually create some bipartisan coalitions in the future? Well, you know, we began the Congress understanding that we had two responsibilities. One, we had to do everything we can to push back against the extremism that is being unleashed on the American people, right? With righteous intensity to push back against this extremism, devastating everyday Americans, but the same period of time, do as much as we can to govern in the minority as if we were in the majority. And in the House, there are only limited tools available to accomplish that objective and the discharge petition, where you can get to 218 signatures on a piece of legislation and over the objection of the president and the speaker forcing up a down vote on the floor of the House of Representatives. We've now done that six different times. And that, as far as we can tell, those six times, plus the two times that we did it in the last Congress, eight, is more in those two Congresses than at any other point in the last 100 years in the House of Representatives. And so we've had them on the run legislatively, and these have been on interesting issues. As you indicated, John, in the aftermath of the 43-day government shutdown, where we made the issue, right, we just said seven consecutive words over and over and over again, cancel the cuts, or I guess it was eight words, cancel the cuts, lower the cost, save health care. And repeating, save health care, over and over and over again, that was the fight. And in the immediate aftermath of that fight, the Republicans felt the pressure of extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits in the House. On our term, a three-year straightforward extension, we were able to do it. On Epstein, and you'll hear from Robert Garcia, and the Oversight Dems have done a great job of standing with the Epstein survivors and pushing for transparency and accountability. And ultimately, we broke them on a discharge petition with respect to Epstein. One of the things that hasn't gotten a lot of attention is that in November or early December of last year, we actually compelled 20 Republicans to join with us to override one of Trump's first executive orders that smashed his executive order, collective bargaining rights for over a million federal employees. We passed legislation through a discharge petition in the House to override that executive order. And then, of course, most recently, we extended temporary protectants status for Haitian migrants, which was interesting because just two years ago, these very same Republicans were claiming that these Haitian migrants were eating cats and dogs in Springfield. And two years later, we forced them to join with us to extend temporary protected status. Because it's the right thing to do. So I think what it's demonstrated is that on issue after issue after issue, when we're on the right side of it, and when we're disciplined, and when we're focused, and when we put pressure in particular on the so-called swing seat Republicans, they have been breaking with us to do the right thing for the American people. Yeah, it's a little bit different than old school, you get a little bit, I get a little bit. It's really pressure and focus. And that can happen on the affirmative agenda as well. You have anticipation that that will help actually move from ideas and control in the House to be able to get stuff that actually gets signed, maybe roll back the Medicaid cuts, get those premium tax increases done. That's exactly right. And you know, I guess part of how we as House Democrats view this moment, either MAGA extremists are going to break the country, or we're going to break them. And our goal is to break them. We will defeat them, we have to beat them electorally, and then we have to break their spirit because of the extremism that's being unleashed on the American people that's completely and totally unacceptable. And that's the approach that we've taken with respect to legislating on these discharge petitions. Speaking of extremism, let's talk a little bit about redistricting. Trump started this off, tried to urge all the MAGA state legislatures, state legislative bodies, to redistrict in the middle of term. Democrats have fought back. In California, we lost that Supreme Court case in Virginia, tried to really push back. But I think we've now created a cycle that the American people must sit back and wonder about. Added to that is this Calais decision, which gutted the Voting Rights Act. They had done a lot already to weaken the Voting Rights Act, endorse extreme partisan redistricting. But going forward, what's the strategy to get a level playing field in the elections? Yeah, well, because of, you know, the Republican gerrymandering scheme had been a complete and total failure with Democrats fighting back aggressively until they were aided and abetted by the Calais decision and an egregious decision by the Virginia Supreme Court, 4-3 decision, partisan decision, completely unacceptable, to overturn the will of more than 3 million Virginia voters. Now, we're still going to win two seats minimum in Virginia. And then we're going to work as hard as we can in advance of 2028 to restore that 10-1 map, because that's what the voters decided would be appropriate moving forward. Now, notwithstanding, you know, the Calais decision and what happened in Virginia, you know, our assessment is that the Republicans may have netted, when it's all said and done, in terms of what's happening in the South right now, maybe three or four seats in this environment, which means that they will go perhaps from plus three, which is where we started, narrowest majority that any party has had in the Congress since 1930, the Great Depression, to maybe plus six or plus seven. Keep in mind, when we won the House back in 2018, and we're in a 2018 type of environment right now, as poll after poll, private and public continue to show, if not better, we needed to flip 24 seats, John, as you recall, with the help of many of the people in this room, and people all across the country, we flipped 40. 31 of those seats were in districts that Donald Trump had just won. And so we only need to flip a fraction of those, even given all of the gerrymandering that they've done, aided and abetted by these two Supreme Court decisions, we only need to flip a fraction of those in order to take back control of the House. And I can tell you right now, as a guarantee, we are taking back control of the United States House of Representatives in November. But then our work is not done. Republicans had a structural advantage, which is why they launched this gerrymandering scheme, because so many of our states had commissions built into the law or constitutional impediments to being able to redraw districts in this cycle that have to be unwound. And in most state legislatures, California was an exception. It takes two consecutively elected legislative bodies before you can bring something before the voters or do it in the state legislature, which means that in states like New York and New Jersey and Washington and Colorado, and we'll add on top of that Oregon, Illinois and Maryland will have at least seven states that we believe we need to respond in advance of 2028 to what they are doing in the Deep South to wipe out any structural advantage that they're trying to get themselves in advance of 2028. And we'll have some opportunities in legislative bodies across the country where we're only one or two seats short of a trifecta to be able to explore what can be done. And we still have pending litigation in Wisconsin where we're waiting on the Wisconsin Supreme Court to act. And so we look at this as a two-step process, right? We'll finish the job in 2026. We'll take back the House. And then we've got to make sure in these states all across the country, we'll have a renewed opportunity to respond because you'll have two consecutively elected legislatures. And in many of these places, like New York, they'll act in the first instance this year and then come back in January, early next year, they'll act again. And then we'll have new maps in these states all across the country to wipe away any advantage that they may try to gain by going into further states in the Deep South. In the past, Democrats, not so much in the House, but in the White House and in the Senate, have been criticized for not focusing as much on judges and the Supreme Court in particular, as the Republicans done. Is there anything we can do about that at this stage? Do you anticipate trying to find a way to either determine limits or other ways to reform the court, which has been just so partisan, lowers its standing with the American people? Yeah, my view, listen, all options are on the table. And that effort will be led by Jamie Raskin, no finer constitutional scholar you'll find in this country, who will be the chair of the Judiciary Committee and the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee as it relates to what needs to be done to ensure that we don't have a Supreme Court that in far too many instances, they're operating like partisan political hacks, right, trying to advance the interests of the Republican Party. And by the way, we should take a step back. And Eric Holder had an op-ed today where he laid out several of the things that I think need to be on the table in terms of Supreme Court reform. But perhaps the original, most recent sin from this Supreme Court was granting this president blanket immunity, which has given him the ability to operate with impunity, unleashing corruption that we've never seen in the history of the country. I mean, Donald Trump makes Richard Nixon look like a choir boy. It's outrageous, and it's hurting the American people. And we're seeing it with the billion-dollar ballroom now. We're seeing it with the multi-billion-dollar slush fund for violent insurrectionists who brutally beat police officers. And we're seeing it with the more recent disclosures of the stock trading ban. And when we talk about cleaning up corruption, we want to do it across the board. Our own institution, the Supreme Court, which needs an ethical code of conduct imposed upon them, and of course, you know, the White House, which is a Trump cartel, an organized crime entity that is unfolding in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. There's no other way to say it. And the American people know it. And we can start by prohibiting the ability for members of Congress, for the president and the vice president, and for Supreme Court justices to trade stocks. Great. We're out of time, but I just, I want to give you a one shot at, Robert Garcia is going to be here later, but there's kind of a free fire zone out there on oversight going into a new Congress. What are the priorities? I think maybe you just laid them out on the corruption side. There's the war in Iran. There's the bad policy decisions. How do you organize the House to actually tell a story of the American people? Well, you know, I think our fundamental premise is that taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for the American people to improve their quality of life, not to unleash mass untrained ICE agents to brutalize or kill American citizens as we horrifically saw, not to fund a reckless and costly war of choice that has increased, you know, gas prices on the American people. And certainly we shouldn't see taxpayer dollars used, you know, to subsidize the lifestyles of the rich and shameless who are connected to Donald Trump, right? As part of a friends and family plan that he is unleashed on the American people in real time, hiding in plain sight. And so I think in terms of our oversight responsibilities in this corruption piece, I think it's the American people intrinsically believe the system is broken, is rigged, and it's corrupt. What we have to do is connect that corruption to the fact that things aren't happening here in Washington that they want to see happen, right? Particularly driving down the high cost of living. And the thing I'll say about this, John, is in terms of, listen, our oversight effort, it's not a democratic playbook. It's not a partisan playbook. It's the James Madison playbook. Like it was Madison who said Congress at its best should be a rival to the executive branch. She said it and there were no political parties. It was the American thing to do. And of course, that's not what this Congress, you know, has done. They've just been a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda. And I found it fascinating when King Charles came and spoke crisp 20-minute speech that he gave to the Congress. And perhaps the most memorable part is when he referenced the Magna Carta and talked about the Magna Carta as the foundation for the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances. And every single Democrat immediately got up and gave him a standing ovation. And then I looked over to the other side of the aisle, and much to my surprise, I saw Republicans standing up and giving him an ovation. And I'm thinking to myself, don't they know King Charles is talking about them right now? But checks and balances, that's an American thing. It's not a partisan thing. It's a Madisonian thing. It's the framers' vision for what the Article I, first amongst equals, branch of government should be. And so while we have a responsibility to drive down the high cost of living and focus on the affordability agenda, we also believe that there's an accountability agenda that the American people will expect rightfully for a separate and co-equal branch of government to pursue. And led by Robert Garcia, who'll do a great job. The oversight Democrats have already done a great job, if you think about it, in the minority. In the minority, Kristi Noem is gone. We ran her out of town. And Pam Bondi is gone. And if I have anything to do with it, Pete Hexeth will be next. Pete Hexeth will be next. We've got to maybe get to one or two questions from the audience that have been submitted. But one that's important, which is, and I'll just read the question, which is that polls show American people don't trust government institutions anymore. I think that's particularly true of young people. How do you restore that sense of support, faith, that things can get better, that government can be on your side? Yeah, no, it's incredibly important. And we have to deliver, right? We're going to make a series of promises as part of our affirmative agenda to the American people. And then we got to work as hard as we can to bring those promises to life in ways that tangibly will improve their quality of life. And young people are facing a very uncertain environment. It was the case prior to the rise of AI. Now with AI, it even adds further to that uncertainty. And we got to run straight into that uncertainty. And make sure that this generation doesn't become the first one where you can't clearly see a better quality of life for them as compared to the generations upon whose shoulders they stand. You know, I have the honor of serving in a district that was once represented by Shirley Chisholm. And Shirley Chisholm, the great Shirley Chisholm, she once said to some young folks who were thinking about running for office, if you run for office, don't be a career politician, be a statesperson. And they said, what's the difference? And she said, well, a career politician is only concerned with the next election. But a statesperson cares about the next generation. And we've got to make sure that we deliver for this generation of young people and future generations to come. We say it, we feel it, but we have to mean it in terms of the actions that actually occur to bring that to life. And I think, you know, that's the responsibility that we all shoulder. We know it's a heavy responsibility, but we plan on delivering like the Democratic Party going all the way back to FDR has. We've done it before. You're talking about Social Security and rural electrification and the GI Bill and Medicare and Medicaid and Head Start and the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act and the Children's Health Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act and the Inflation Reduction Act and all the things that were accomplished in the last administration. Every single one of those things brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Democratic Party. That's a pretty good track record of success to stand upon. And we've got to build upon that to continue to deliver for the future. I told you I was going to ask you, who's your hero in politics or in life? And then we're going to get out of here. You could pick which one. Yeah, well, I thought you were going to actually ask me, am I picking the Knicks in five or in six games? Oh, I wanted to say, is there a question there? Yes, but I will say. I figured the answer to that was obvious. Well, that's right. I think, you know, there's so many legends that I've had the opportunity to serve with in this Congress. Of course, Nancy Pelosi and Steny and, you know, Jim Clyburn. But we all feel like a particular sense of pride and honor to have served with John Lewis. And he was a real American hero. And, you know, I'll never forget that when I was on the floor as a new member of Congress, my first or second day, saw John Lewis, called me over and he asked me a question. He said, are you the new guy? And I said, yes, sir. Mr. Lewis, that's me. He said, Hakeem, you're a colleague of mine right now. You don't have to call me, Mr. Lewis. You can call me John. I said, yes, sir. Mr. Lewis, I understand. Then he asked whether I was from Brooklyn. He thought I said yes. He said, well, you know, I hear some good things about your class yourself. And I came in, there was 52 other 51, 52 other Democrats and great Democrats. But Washington, D.C. can be a tough place. So, young man, I don't want you to get into any trouble unless it's good trouble. And he lived a life of good trouble. And he showed such character and courage and conviction and belief in America, the good of America, even when confronting the ugly underbelly of America. And we certainly are called upon to summon that type of courage and character and conviction to get us through the storm, which we will get through this storm and make sure that we come out stronger as a country on the other side of it. John Lewis. Thank you, Mr. Jeffries. Thank you all. Thank you, leader.