LEADER JEFFRIES ON ABC THIS WEEK: REPUBLICANS ARE OBSESSED WITH CANCELING THE HEALTHCARE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on ABC's This Week, making clear that Democrats will continue to push back against Republican efforts to shut down the government and gut the healthcare of the American people.

MARTHA RADDATZ: I'm joined now in studio by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Good to see you, Leader Jeffries. We have learned this morning that you will be meeting with Donald Trump on Monday with Mike Johnson, Leader Schumer, Leader Thune. How did that meeting come about?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, Leader Schumer and I initially requested a meeting last Saturday. Donald Trump agreed to the meeting, and then a few days later abruptly canceled it. We've made clear that we're ready, willing and able to sit down with anyone, at any time and at any place in order to make sure that we can actually fund the government, avoid a painful Republican-caused shutdown and address the healthcare crisis that Republicans have caused that's impacting everyday Americans all across the country.

MARTHA RADDATZ: So did the White House call you, all of you? Or did you keep asking for a meeting? Did they explain why it was canceled before?

LEADER JEFFRIES: They did not explain why it was canceled other than the statement that Donald Trump issued that mischaracterized the Democratic position. Our position has been very clear: cancel the cuts, lower the cost, save healthcare so we can address the issues that really matter to the American people in an environment where the cost of living is too high, where the quality of life of everyday Americans has been undermined consistently since January 20. Speaker Mike Johnson reached out to me yesterday, indicated that there had been a conversation between Republican leaders and the President and, as a result, the meeting is back on.

MARTHA RADDATZ: I know you haven't had any formal meetings with President Trump. You were around him during inauguration and have obviously met him. What are your expectations from this meeting, and can you compromise?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, Donald Trump has taken a go-it-alone approach from the very beginning of this Congress, and, unfortunately, my colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle have behaved not as a separate and co-equal branch of government and a check-and-balance on an out-of-control executive branch, but as a consistent rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda. Our view going into the meeting is that we want to find bipartisan common ground to find a spending agreement that avoids a government shutdown and actually meets the needs of the American people in terms of their health, their safety and their economic well-being.

MARTHA RADDATZ: If I had to mark this day, do you believe that there will be a government shutdown? They need Democratic votes.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, it's my hope that we'll avoid one. At the end of the day, Republicans do control the House, the Senate and the presidency, and what we've seen consistently, including with the-

MARTHA RADDATZ: But they need Democratic votes-

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, certainly, any enlightened agreement at the end the day, any sustainable agreement, should always be bipartisan in nature, and that's been our position. It's also been our positions quite clearly that we've got to address this Republican healthcare crisis. Think about this. The largest cut to Medicaid in American history. A potential $536 billion cut to Medicare if Congress doesn't act by the end of the year. And if we don't extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, more than 20 million Americans are going to experience dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles in an environment where the cost of living in America is already too high.

MARTHA RADDATZ: You just said they don't expire until the end of the year. We know they don't expire until the year, so why not approve this and just get seven more weeks to negotiate?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, because notices are going to go out in a matter of days, and it's going to be a shock to the system of everyday Americans who are already struggling to get by. Life is already too expensive. People are already living paycheck to paycheck. And we're talking about-

MARTHA RADDATZ: So today, you could say, you know, let's compromise. And those notices wouldn't go out, right?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we actually need to enact legislation to ensure that the Affordable Care Act tax credits are extended. And the challenge that we have in this particular instance is that, several times over the last few months, Republicans in the House have had the opportunity to vote with Democrats to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, and they've repeatedly and consistently declined to do it. They voted no over and over and over again. And we know that Republicans have basically relentlessly attacked the healthcare of the American people, not simply this year in the context of the One Big Ugly Bill, and hospitals and nursing homes and community-based health clinics all across the country, including in rural America, are shutting down. But they've been after the Affordable Care Act since 2010. They are obsessed with canceling the healthcare of the American People. We actually are working to save the healthcare of the American people.

MARTHA RADDATZ: Let me talk about the American people. I want to play what you were saying back in December, after then President-elect Trump came out against the bill Congress was working to pass to keep the government open. This is what you said would be the result of a shutdown.

VIDEO RECORDING OF LEADER JEFFRIES: Families will be hurt. Farmers will be hurt. Border security and Border Patrol agents will not be paid. TSA agents will not be paid. Small businesses will be hurt in every single community.

MARTHA RADDATZ: And this time, the threat of mass firings, basically, and telling people they may not be able to come back to work at all. So do you still believe a shutdown would broadly hurt the American people?

LEADER JEFFRIES: We are always of the view that we need to fund the government and make sure that the services that the American people rely upon can continue to be received and also that we stand by our federal civil service. We've seen, since January 20, mass firings already taking place by the Trump administration in the absence of a government shutdown because this is what they've determined to do, hurt everyday Americans. We consistently have made the point, we want to find a bipartisan path forward and reach a spending agreement with our Republican colleagues that actually meets the needs of the American people but that also addresses the Republican healthcare crisis that is harming everyday Americans all across the country-rural America, urban America, the heartland of America, suburban America, small town America and Black and brown communities throughout America.

MARTHA RADDATZ: If there is a shutdown, then what do you do? We have about 30 seconds left here.

LEADER JEFFRIES: What we've seen during the Trump administration, the first time around, a 35-day government shutdown. That was way too long. Ultimately, Donald Trump and Republicans came to their senses. Hopefully, we avoid a shutdown this time around. And if we're in one, we find a quick path out.

MARTHA RADDATZ: Are you more optimistic this morning?

LEADER JEFFRIES: I'm hopeful.

MARTHA RADDATZ: Okay, thanks very much for joining us, Leader Jeffries.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you.

Full interview can be watched here.

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