Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press, emphasizing that Democrats remain ready to sit down with Republicans to end their government shutdown and protect the healthcare and nutritional assistance of the American people, but Republicans must come to the negotiating table.
KRISTEN WELKER: Joining me now is the House Democratic Leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Leader Jeffries, welcome back to Meet the Press.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Good morning. Great to be with you.
KRISTEN WELKER: It’s great to have you here. Let’s start on the government shutdown, now the longest in US history. Leader Jeffries, do you believe that your colleagues in the Senate are close to reaching a deal and ending this shutdown?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we need to end the Trump-Republican shutdown, the longest shutdown, of course, in American history. And as Democrats, we’ve repeatedly maintain that we will sit down anytime, anyplace, with anyone in order to reopen the government, to find a bipartisan path forward to enacting a spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people, which means trying to drive down the high cost of living because America under Donald Trump and Republican policies has become far too expensive, while at the same time dealing with the Republican healthcare crisis that threatens to drive up premiums, copays and deductibles to levels that will be unaffordable for working-class Americans because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
KRISTEN WELKER: Well, Leader Jeffries, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer did make a new offer, effectively saying let’s extend Obamacare subsidies for one year in exchange for reopening the government for one year. You have said that you would support that proposal, but just last month you said this. Take a look.
RECORDING OF LEADER JEFFRIES: A one-year extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits is not acceptable. It’s a nonstarter. It’s a nonstarter.
KRISTEN WELKER: So Leader Jeffries, what changed?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, the proposal that I was making reference to in October was something that was floated out there by a handful of rank-and-file House Republicans, and that was immediately rejected by House Republican leadership because they have no interest in driving down the high cost of living for everyday Americans. The Schumer proposal, of course, was offered in good faith. It’s both a one-year extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits. Now we’re already in the middle of the open enrollment period. Tens of millions of people are on the brink of facing dramatically-increased healthcare costs—costs that, in some cases, could be $1,000 or $2,000 per month. That is unaffordable for middle-class Americans, working-class Americans and everyday Americans. And the Schumer proposal also provides a path toward bipartisan negotiations for a multi-year extension, which would provide the type of certainty that the American people need.
KRISTEN WELKER: Well, as you know, Republican Leader John Thune has called it a nonstarter. Let me ask you, would you support a bill that would include a promise to vote on extending Obamacare subsidies? Is that something you could live with?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Let’s understand that these Republicans have tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act more than 70 different times over the last 15 years. They’re not acting in good faith as it relates to dealing with the healthcare crisis that they’re visiting on the American people. This is the same group of folks who just enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history as part of their One Big Ugly Bill. Hospitals and nursing homes and community-based health centers are closing all across the country, including in rural America, because of Republican policies. We’re faced with the possibility of a $536 billion cut to Medicare at the end of this year if Congress doesn’t act connected to what they did in the One Big Ugly Bill. And now they’re refusing to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for even a year when they’ve just enacted massive permanent tax breaks for their billionaire donors. Does that seem reasonable? Is that the type of policy that the American people are screaming out for, as evidenced by what just happened with Republicans being wiped out in the general election last Tuesday?
KRISTEN WELKER: Leader Jeffries, just very quickly. Yes or no, do you rule out supporting a bill that would include a promise to vote on Obamacare subsidies? Yes or no?
LEADER JEFFRIES: I don’t think that the House Democratic Caucus is prepared to support a promise, a wing and a prayer, from folks who have been devastating the healthcare of the American people for years.
KRISTEN WELKER: All right. Let’s talk about the impacts, you mentioned them, of this government shutdown. They’re being felt across the country. Hundreds of flights, as you know, have been canceled this weekend across major airports. The lines are growing longer outside of food banks. And there’s a lot of uncertainty about food assistance programs, which currently hang in the balance right now, in limbo. Leader Jeffries, is it responsible for Democrats to continue to push for a better deal and to not reopen the government, given that people are suffering right now?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency. Donald Trump, from the very beginning of his term, has taken a my-way-or-the-highway approach. That’s not reasonable. It’s not reasonable for Donald Trump to withhold, intentionally, SNAP benefits from 42 million Americans, including more than a million veterans who are at risk of going hungry a few days from us honoring the veterans of this country who have sacrificed with their bravery and their courage. It’s not reasonable for Republicans to devastate the healthcare of the American people, to find $40 billion as they did a few weeks ago to bail out their right-wing dictator friend in Argentina, but can’t find a dime to make healthcare affordable for the American people? Listen, as Democrats, we want to find a bipartisan path forward. We want to reopen the government. We’re also fighting to drive down the high cost of living. Donald Trump promised to lower costs on day one. Costs aren’t going down, costs are going up. Housing costs through the roof. Grocery costs through the roof. Electricity bills are skyrocketing. And now we’re on the brink of healthcare insurance premiums dramatically increasing, devastating working-class Americans. None of that is acceptable. We need to find a viable path forward.
KRISTEN WELKER: But Leader Jeffries, for the people who are suffering right now and who are, quite frankly, concerned about how they are going to put food on the table over this holiday season, how long can they expect this shutdown to continue? Can you guarantee that you will reopen the government before Thanksgiving?
LEADER JEFFRIES: We need to resolve this immediately. And here are two things that can be done to get that accomplished—
KRISTEN WELKER: You think it’ll happen before Thanksgiving?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, one, Donald Trump—
KRISTEN WELKER: Do you think it’ll happen before Thanksgiving?
LEADER JEFFRIES: I hope so. Donald Trump needs to get off the golf course and get back to the negotiating table. He’s spent more time golfing over the last several weeks then he has talking to Democrats, who represent half the country, as part of an effort to find a bipartisan path forward. And by the way, we also know that House Republicans have literally cancelled votes for the last six weeks. They’ve been on vacation, and they have no plans to return next week. We’ll be in Washington as House Democrats ready, willing and able to reopen the government to make life better for the American people and to address the healthcare crisis that has been devastating the country.
KRISTEN WELKER: Leader Jeffries, President Trump floated what he believes is a potential solution to this online. Let me read it to you. He says, quote, ‘I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the hundreds of billions of dollars currently being sent to money-sucking insurance companies in order to save the bad healthcare provided by Obamacare be sent directly to the people so that they can purchase their own, much better healthcare.’ Would you ever support giving subsidies directly to the American people instead of Obamacare?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we have a broken healthcare system. But the Affordable Care Act has been part of actually providing health insurance to tens of millions of Americans. Of course, there’s always opportunity to improve current policy that exists. But Republicans aren’t operating in good faith as it relates to doing anything to actually make healthcare more affordable. And we’ve seen that repeatedly over the last several weeks. Now, if Donald Trump is changing his tune and is actually willing to sit down and negotiate a bipartisan path forward, of course we are interested in doing that. We’ve been making that point for the last several weeks.
KRISTEN WELKER: What do you make of that proposal online, though? Does it sound like he’s interested in doing that?
LEADER JEFFRIES: I mean, it’s hard to take these online things seriously. There’s no actual legislation, there’s no text, there’s no policy documents to be able to review. If that exists, if that somehow materializes and manifests itself in the next day or so, we look forward to reviewing it in good faith.
KRISTEN WELKER: All right, Leader Jeffries, let’s turn now to Tuesday’s election results. Democrats had a clean sweep winning the New York City mayoral election, both gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, as you know, a ballot measure in California. You are on track to potentially become the next Speaker if Democrats were to win back the House in 2026. How confident are you that that’s going to happen?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Democrats are definitely going to take back control of the House of Representatives, and we’re going to stay focused on the issues that matter—lowering the high cost of living, fixing our broken healthcare system and cleaning up corruption to actually deliver a country that works for working-class Americans, for everyday Americans and for middle-class Americans. As Democrats, you know, we believe in a country that has a strong floor and no ceiling. If you work hard and play by the rules, there should be no ceiling to the success that you can accomplish for yourself, for your family, for your children. At the same time, we also believe in a country that has a strong floor—that’s Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid and nutritional assistance, by the way, the things that Republicans are trying to devastate right now.
KRISTEN WELKER: Leader Jeffries, what about the Senate?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Listen, I think that the results on Tuesday, which were so decisive in the states that you mentioned, but also in Georgia, in Mississippi, in Pennsylvania, across the country, up and down the ballot, including in races that didn’t get the same level of attention, shows that there’s a real path, of course, to taking back control of the House of Representatives where we’re only 3 seats short right now—when we flipped the House in 2018, we were 24 seats short—but also a strong and viable path in the Senate. Because the American people have had enough and they want a government that actually puts them first, as opposed to what Republicans have been doing prioritizing the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected.
KRISTEN WELKER: Two quick questions, lightning round. Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani won big in New York City. He’s just coming into City Hall having made ambitious promises. Let’s take a listen to what he said on election night.
RECORDING OF ZOHRAN MAMDANI AND CROWD: Together, New York, we’re going to freeze the rent. Together, New York, we’re going to make buses fast and free. Together, New York, we’re going to deliver universal child care.
KRISTEN WELKER: So frozen rent, free buses, universal child care. Do you believe that he can deliver on those promises very quickly Leader Jeffries?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well he’s going to have to work with the Rent Guidelines Board and, probably more importantly, with the Governor of the State of New York and the State Legislature in order to enact those proposals, but I do expect that the legislature, of course, and the Governor are going to meet him in good faith, try to negotiate a path forward. But it’s all centered around the notion of making New York City more affordable, which is, of course, what we have to do throughout America in a country that’s far too expensive. It is the wealthiest country in the history of the world. It’s unacceptable that far too many people are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck.
KRISTEN WELKER: Leader Jeffries, quickly, before I let you go. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi announcing she will not seek reelection. If you do in fact become the next Speaker, will you model yourself after her?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, Nancy Pelosi is a legendary, heroic, historic, transformational figure. I’m proud to just stand on her shoulders, to serve with her and to have the benefit of her guidance, her wisdom, her mentorship and her insights.
KRISTEN WELKER: All right, Leader Jeffries, thank you so much for joining us on a very busy weekend. We really appreciate it.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you.
Full interview can be watched here.
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