Chairman Aguilar on Meet the Press NOW: We are focused on lowering costs for the American public, but we also want to root out corruption and hold the crooks accountable.

Chairman Aguilar on Meet the Press NOW: We are focused on lowering costs for the American public, but we also want to root out corruption and hold the crooks accountable.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar joined NBC's Meet the Press NOW to discuss Democrats' affordability agenda and focus on holding the Trump administration accountable for the corruption that's making life more expensive for hardworking Americans. You can watch the full interview here and read the transcript of the Chairman's interview below.

RYAN NOBLES: Joining me now is Congressman Pete Aguilar of California. He's currently the Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, and he's running to be the Majority Whip in the upcoming Congress. Congressman, thank you so much for being here. You posted online this morning, 'It's time to send Pete Hegseth packing.' Do you think that there are enough votes to pass Congressman Massie's resolution under this Congress? And is the full Democratic Caucus ready to vote for this?

CHAIR AGUILAR: I think it's very clear to the Democratic Caucus and the Republican Conference that the American people have lost faith in Pete Hegseth. This is an Iran war that he has presided over that is failing at every step. It's leading to rising costs that people face, and each and every time Congress has asked questions, Pete Hegseth doesn't have the answers. So I think that members are going to have to make their own decision, but I am a yes. Leader Jeffries is a yes. The leadership team, I would imagine, is a yes. And I think, by and large, Democrats believe that Pete Hegseth needs to go. But this is, Ryan, this is like a race to the bottom with this cabinet. I mean, this is a corrupt cabinet. Pete Hegseth is the first here, and this is a bipartisan resolution that is being offered, by the way. But we'll get to the bottom of it, and we'll see where the caucus and the conference ends up.

RYAN NOBLES: Even if it were to pass, it would likely be largely symbolic. It seems unlikely the Senate would vote to convict him in the next two months. So, is this something that your Democratic majority would be interested in bringing back in the new Congress? Is impeaching and removing Secretary Hegseth going to be a priority, a top priority, for you in the new Congress?

CHAIR AGUILAR: Well, let's see what the Senate does. We shouldn't be making decisions for January just yet. You know, this is in front of us right now. This is the decision that we have. But we have been very clear. We are focused on lowering the costs for the American public, but we also want to root out corruption and hold the crooks accountable. And so we will be doing that. We will have an agenda that focuses on all of those, and if we need to, we are prepared to use this tool. But right now, this is the vote in front of us, and we'll see how it goes, and then we'll see what the Senate wants to do with this. But obviously, there are questions that many people, you know, have about Pete Hegseth's leadership, and he should have to answer to those in public.

RYAN NOBLES: Okay, let's talk now about President Trump's post this morning, which appeared to cast doubt on the election results talking about, quote, 'early voting dumps' and voting machines. I know that you and your fellow Democrats did table talk exercises because you were concerned about the possibility that the president could challenge the election results. He initially seemed to think, or at least seemed to say, that he accepted them. Are you still worried about the possibility of the president trying to challenge your big win from last Tuesday?

CHAIR AGUILAR: No, our focus all along was to win seats, but to win them big enough that not even the president could cast any doubt or or rig these elections, and so that's exactly what we've done. We won in such a big way. There is no way anybody believes that these elections were not accurate. In fact, the president has even gone on TV multiple times and said that. So that's what, you know, that is what's concerning about that post. It doesn't really match what he has said in live interviews the last couple days. So I don't know who's in control of his social media, but it certainly doesn't seem like some of the words he said in the past. But this is a president who likes to say multiple things and and and take multiple positions on the same issue, so it's not surprising to me or anyone in the American public.

RYAN NOBLES: Yeah, well, that actually leads into my next question because he is still going to be president for the next two years, and even though you did win healthy majorities on Tuesday, you're going to have to work with President Trump. Can this new Democrat-led Congress deliver on its affordability agenda while President Trump is still in the White House? How do you achieve that? Don't you have to work with him?

CHAIR AGUILAR: We'll work with anyone. We've said very clearly, we'll work with anyone, anywhere to deliver real relief for the American people. The American people are getting crushed with costs: housing, gas, groceries, utilities, everyday goods. The American people are getting crushed. They want relief. They want help, and this Republican Conference has ignored them, ignored their pleas and ignored their financial situation for too long. And so we are in a position now that we can govern and we can pass legislation to address that. We'll work with our partners in the Senate, and we'll ensure that these are legislative products that can come out of both houses, and then we'll put it on the president's desk. That's our job. Our job is to propose legislation that helps people. We plan on doing that. And if the president is real, if the president wants to work on those issues, then we are happy to to let him sign bills that we produce, but if the president just wants to call names and talk about putting lawmakers in jail, then we're just going to keep putting affordability bills on his desk and holding his administration accountable.

RYAN NOBLES: Yeah, I guess that's what I'm trying to interpret here. Do you think this is a situation where you can work with the White House ahead of time, find some areas of common agreement, craft legislation that you think he can sign, or is it your plan just to pass legislation and almost dare him to veto it or not sign it?

CHAIR AGUILAR: We are willing to work with anyone in any party in any chamber, 16 blocks away or here on Capitol Hill, if they are genuinely concerned about lowering the costs that people face. If he's not concerned about that, then we'll have to work on different strategies to just send them the bills. But if they want to engage and work with us, we're happy to do that.

RYAN NOBLES: Okay, let's talk about the president, at least hinting about this idea of some sort of immigration reform, as he did in the 60 Minutes interview last night. Would Democrats consider a deal on immigration with the White House, while and if the White House were to continue their hardline deportation policies and quotas?

CHAIR AGUILAR: It's hard to imagine that a White House that is led by Stephen Miller would be serious about immigration reform. This is someone who is championing separating families and the deportation forces in every neighborhood. But look, we're interested in dealing with solutions, and we want to fix this broken immigration system and ensure that they can't do the behavior that they are doing. So, if the White House is willing to engage with us, then we'll engage with them on those solutions.

RYAN NOBLES: You mentioned before that your conference is not going to back away from your oversight responsibility. I want to play what Congressman Garcia, he's poised to be the next chair of the House Oversight Committee. This is what he said yesterday about investigating the Trump family, specifically Don Jr.

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RYAN NOBLES: It's a version of this question a million times, but I think it bears repeating. Are you able to have that laser focus on your affordability agenda while at the same time conducting these robust investigations? Could one of these agenda items get distracted by the other?

CHAIR AGUILAR: It's not an either or, especially when the grift of this White House is costing the American public real dollars. We are seeing that gas prices are up. They're having to pay, you know, over $850 more per household in gasoline expenses. Why should they shoulder that burden when the president's own portfolio on oil and gas goes up $30 or $40 million? That's the direct line that we are talking about. That this grift in this White House is costing the American public, and it deserves to be held accountable. So that's exactly what Robert Garcia is talking about and looking at there. We're laser focused on the affordability crisis, but we can't ignore the fact that the grift of the Trump family is costing the American people.

RYAN NOBLES: And then before we go, will Leader Jeffries become the next Speaker of the House? Even though there have been some members, new incoming members, that have questioned whether or not he's the right guy for the job. Are you confident that he will be the next Speaker of the House?

CHAIR AGUILAR: Leader Jeffries will be the next Speaker of the House. I have been honored to nominate him in the past, and I look forward to being able to stand up and to say his name. And for Hakeem Jeffries to be the next Speaker of the House, I don't lose any sleep over that vote, it's going to happen.

RYAN NOBLES: All right, Congressman, thank you.

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