LEADER JEFFRIES ON MSNBC: “WE NEED TO FIX OUR BROKEN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM BECAUSE OF ALL THE DAMAGE THAT REPUBLICANS HAVE DONE”

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MSNBC's Katy Tur Reports, where he emphasized that as the Republican healthcare crisis worsens and Republicans skip town, Democrats are ready to negotiate an end to the government shutdown and to protect the healthcare of the American people.

KATY TUR: Joining us now, House Minority Leader and New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. Thank you very much for joining us.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Good afternoon, great to be with you.

KATY TUR: So prices are going up. People are struggling. They're struggling at the grocery store. They're struggling to buy a home. You heard the average age of a homeowner is now 38 years old. How does this shutdown help them?

LEADER JEFFRIES: It doesn't help them at all. It's day 13 of the Trump-Republican shutdown, and House Republicans have actually now canceled votes for the third consecutive week because they'd rather keep the government shut down than deal with the cost-of-living crisis that exists in the United States of America. And they certainly have no interest in dealing with the healthcare crisis that they have created. Donald Trump and Republicans spent all of last year promising to lower costs. In fact, they said they would lower costs on day one. But we know, Katy, that costs haven't gone down. They've gone up. Inflation is going up. The Trump tariffs is making life more expensive for the American people. Electricity bills are skyrocketing through the roof. Housing costs are through the roofs. And we know grocery prices continue to go up, not down. And now, because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, tens of millions of Americans are about to experience dramatically increased healthcare costs.

KATY TUR: What is this shutdown about then? Is it about the rising costs of groceries or living, or is it about healthcare?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, it's about healthcare, and we've made that very clear. And Marjorie Taylor Greene has acknowledged that this clearly is an issue that needs to be addressed with the fierce urgency of now. Understand that what Republicans have done throughout the year, largest cut to Medicaid in American history. Hospitals, nursing homes and community-based health clinics are closing all throughout the country because of what they did in their One Big Ugly Bill. We're facing the largest cut to Medicare, $536 billion, in American history if Congress doesn't act by the end of this year. And on top of all that, people are facing these dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles because of the Republicans' continued refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, even though Open Enrollment starts in just a few weeks. So we've made clear from the very beginning-we'll sit down with anyone, anytime, anyplace to find a bipartisan path forward toward reopening the government. We want to stand with our hardworking federal employees and certainly our men and women in uniform. But we have to enact a spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people, and at the same time decisively addresses the Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating people all across the country.

KATY TUR: The Republicans have put forward a clean CR. That means they're not changing funding levels. They just want this to pass for a short and extended period of time while they work out other issues. Do you not trust that they'll, if you signed on to this and the Senate Democrats signed on to this, that the Republicans would then come and negotiate and compromise on those healthcare subsidies?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, there's definitively no reason to ever trust the Republicans, particularly as it relates to the healthcare issue and the Affordable Care Act. These are people who have now tried more than 70 different times over the last 15 years to repeal the Affordable Care Act. And so there's no reasonable basis to conclude that if they simply give their word as it relates to dealing with the Affordable Care Act tax credits, that they'll actually move toward a legislative resolution. The other thing that's important to point out is this is not a bipartisan spending bill that they're asking House and Senate Democrats to vote on-and Senate Democrats have held the line in such an extraordinary way. This is a partisan Republican spending bill that many of us strongly objected to in March because it cut veterans' healthcare, cut nutritional assistance, cut benefits as it relates to affordable housing programs in this country, which is desperately needed, and it also cut healthcare. And so we view this as a partisan Republican spending bill that continues the trajectory of gutting the healthcare of the American people at a time when we need to fix our broken healthcare system because of all the damage that Republicans have done to working-class Americans, rural America, urban America, small town America, the heartland of America and Black and brown communities throughout America.

KATY TUR: It is an interesting moment with Marjorie Taylor Greene breaking with the party on a couple of issues. One of them is the Epstein files and the other one, again, are these healthcare subsidies and costs. Have you met with her?

LEADER JEFFRIES: I have not met with her, but it does seem to many of us that she's had a surprisingly enlightened few weeks in terms of her perspective on both the Epstein files and also, Katy, we know one of the reasons why Republicans refuse to come back, why they remain on vacation all across the country, is because they don't want to swear in Representative-elect Adelita Grajava, because she would represent the 218th signature for an up-or-down vote on releasing the Epstein files. And at the same period of time, Republicans have no interest-zero interest-in trying to address the healthcare crisis that they've visited upon the American people, even though you've got Republicans now, most prominently Marjorie Taylor Greene, who's making clear this is not a made-up crisis. It's a real thing. And the cost of living in this country is already crushing the American people. Republican policies are failing, and we need to reverse course.

KATY TUR: Have you reached out to her? Do you want to reach out to her? Do you see her as somebody that can help you bring Republicans to the table? Is there anybody else in the Republican Party that you've been in contact with that is upset about these healthcare subsidies?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, there have been conversations informally that are taking place. I have not personally spoken with Marjorie Taylor Greene, but I know that some of my Democratic colleagues have made some outreach and we'll continue to do that. Part of the problem, of course, is Republicans are nowhere to be found. They literally are not in Washington and have not been in Washington for the last several weeks and have no intention of being there this week. And you know, Republicans, since that White House meeting which was now two weeks ago, have basically gone radio silent, have refused to have a conversation with Leader Schumer, with myself, with Democrats in either chamber of Congress because they decided they wanted to shut down the government. They're trying to visit pain on the American people. They continue to pursue this my way or the highway approach. And we've said it's not happening. We're standing on principle here as it relates to defending and protecting and strengthening the healthcare the American people. Republicans apparently are now starting to realize that, but we need their leadership to finally stop being divorced from reality.

KATY TUR: Have you met with Speaker Mike Johnson?

LEADER JEFFRIES: No, Speaker Mike Johnson and I have not met. They've made the decision-

KATY TUR: Why not?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Donald Trump has not given-because Donald Trump has not give them permission to meet, Katy. And we know that until Donald Trump gives them permission to meet, they're going to continue to hide as it relates to sitting down and negotiating a bipartisan agreement.

KATY TUR: What do you say to Americans who-I mean there's two groups of Americans. There's a number of Democrats who say Democrats need to fight harder, they need to not give in, they were very angry at Senator Schumer for agreeing to a continuing resolution a few months ago, one that you said a lot of the Members did not agree with. But there's also a large part of the American public, Democrats included, Independents, Republicans as well who look at Congress and see this shutdown battle as just another reason why they can't trust Washington. They can't trust Washington to do anything on behalf of the American public. How do you explain to them that this shutdown is you doing something?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, nobody wanted to see this shutdown take place, and unfortunately, Republicans who control the House, the Senate and the presidency decided that they were going to go it alone, adopt this take-it-or-leave-it approach, and we were very clear for weeks prior to the end of the fiscal year on September 30 that we would not support a partisan Republican spending bill that continued to gut the healthcare of the American people, but that we would sit down with any of them, anytime, anyplace, either at the Capitol or back in the Oval Office, in order to enact a bipartisan spending agreement to fund the government, but that that spending agreement needed to actually improve the quality of life of the American people, when anyone who's paying attention knows that things haven't gotten better in America as a result of Trump-Republican policies, they're getting worse. Life is getting more expensive. It's becoming harder and harder for working-class Americans and middle-class Americans to get by. Can barely survive, let alone thrive, here in this country. We need a course correction. And that's why Democrats continue to stand on principle. We want to reopen the government. We support our federal employees, our hardworking civil servants. But we need partners on the other side of the aisle to even just be willing to sit down and have a discussion. And so far, that hasn't been the case.

KATY TUR: I just want to put up on the screen what we should expect if this shutdown continues. Again, we're on day 13. On day 12, that was yesterday, closures at the Smithsonian Museums, Research Centers, National Zoo. On day 15, in two days, Donald Trump is instructing the DOD to pay troops despite the shutdown, apparently using a Pentagon slush fund. That's from all that we can gather so far. On October 17, that's day 17, closure of federal courts. On day 31, $300 million in additional funding to stay operational will come through. On day 32, disruption to SNAP benefits. Day 35, it will be the longest shutdown in history. And if it extends to 93 days, if it gets to January, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services run out of funding. Do you believe it could get to day 93, to January?

LEADER JEFFRIES: I don't think the American people will allow it to continue to proceed much further beyond where we are right now, because the American people want us to reopen the government, they want bipartisan negotiations and they want the Congress to address the healthcare crisis that is devastating them that we know is a serious thing. You know, notices are going out right now, as we speak, to tens of millions of Americans who are going to experience thousands of dollars in additional costs because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits that benefit working-class Americans. And by the way, Katy, this is a group of people, meaning the Republicans, who just enacted permanent changes to the tax code to provide massive tax breaks to their billionaire donors. And now they can't be bothered to stand up for everyday Americans, working-class Americans and middle-class Americans. So I don't think their position is sustainable. And the fact that we see a variety of Republicans, from more swing-seat traditional Republicans who have said something needs to be done with respect to the Affordable Care Act tax credits, to further right Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene, also being vocal that their leadership has failed them, that they should return to Washington. They need to sit down and negotiate a spending agreement that actually alleviates the cost-of-living crisis in this country and reopens the government.

KATY TUR: Leader Jeffries, thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate your time.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you.

Full interview can be watched here.

###