LEADER JEFFRIES ON MSNBC: “WE COULD NOT SUPPORT A PARTISAN REPUBLICAN SPENDING BILL THAT CONTINUES TO GUT THE HEALTHCARE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE”

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MSNBC's Way Too Early, where he reiterated that Democrats will continue fighting to protect the healthcare of the American people and lower the high cost of living.

ALI VITALI: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joining us for the first time on Way Too Early. Thank you for coming on, waking up early. You and I were both up at the Capitol late last night. It's pretty strong words there from Karoline Leavitt, but at this point the shutdown is over. I wonder, what was your reaction when you first saw the deal that Senate Democrats agreed to that ultimately ended this and was voted on last night?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well of course there was disappointment, but the reality is, notwithstanding what the unhinged White House Press Secretary had to say, is that Donald Trump is the President, Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency. They made the decision several weeks ago, shut down the government, their view, because they didn't want to provide affordable healthcare to everyday Americans. Our position from the very beginning was clear. We wanted to find a bipartisan path forward to enact a spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people, but we could not support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the healthcare of the American people.

ALI VITALI: Six of your Members ultimately broke ranks to do that, but by and large they stayed unified. I think you referenced the fact that the deal itself was disappointing because it fell short of those tangibles on healthcare that you were just talking about. But some of your Members have gone further to say that they think that Leader Schumer should no longer be the Democratic Leader. I know you've said that you support him, but do you understand where some of their criticism and frustration comes from?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Leader Schumer and the overwhelming majority of Senate Democrats waged a valiant fight week after week after week, month after month after month starting in September into November in order to make sure that we were being clear with the American people. That yes, we always support finding common ground. We certainly support our hardworking federal employees. But at the same period of time, we're in the midst of a healthcare crisis that Republicans have created. This group of extremists has enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. Hospitals and nursing homes and community-based health centers are closing all across the country because of what Republicans have done in their One Big Ugly Bill. And now these extremists refuse to find a dime to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits in order to help keep healthcare affordable for working-class Americans, middle-class Americans and everyday Americans. It's unacceptable, and House and Senate Democrats are aligned in continuing to press the case to save the healthcare of the American people.

ALI VITALI: You introduced a discharge petition to that effect. It's something that takes a long time. We've talked about the procedure a lot on this show. I've already talked to one Republican who I thought might be someone open to signing it, but they said that they would not be. Have you heard from Republicans that are open to this, bucking their own leadership and getting on board for something on the Affordable Care Act, specifically the three-year clean extension that you're laying out in this discharge petition?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, over the last several weeks, several Republicans have gone on record saying that they understood the need to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits in order to prevent tens of millions of Americans from experiencing dramatically-increased premiums, copays and deductibles. What the American people who are in the middle of open enrollment right now may confront is the fact that for many folks all across this country, including in rural parts of America, they may see increases in their health insurance of $1,000 or $2,000 per month. That's unsustainable. Now, it remains to be seen whether Republicans actually are going to behave in a manner consistent with what they've been saying and join with Democrats to partner to save their healthcare and extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.

ALI VITALI: I think the open question is how do we avoid being in this exact same position come January 31st of next year?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, I think one of the challenges that we've had throughout the entire year, and this is the American people who have been dealing with unprecedented extremism being jammed down their throats by Donald Trump and compliant Republicans in the House and the Senate, is that the Republicans have adopted a my-way-or-the-highway approach. And unless they change course, we're going to have challenges, governmentally, for the balance of the first two years of Donald Trump's time in office. Now, as Democrats, we continue to make clear we're ready, we're willing, we're able to find a bipartisan path forward to enact a spending agreement that actually improves the quality of life. And, Ali, that means driving down the high cost of living in an environment where we have both an affordability crisis and a healthcare crisis. Donald Trump promised that costs would go down on day one. Costs haven't gone down on day one. Costs have gone up. Inflation is up. The Trump tariffs are adding thousands of dollars per year of additional expense to everyday Americans. Housing costs are too high. Grocery costs are too high. Child care costs are too high. Electricity bills are through the roof. And now, because of the Republican healthcare crisis, tens of millions of people are facing the possibility that their healthcare will become unaffordable and they can't see a doctor when they need one. These are core problems. And we need Republicans to partner with us, exercise some common sense, let's find bipartisan common ground in order to enact the common good.

ALI VITALI: I wonder if we can just step back for a moment because relationships are the currency of Congress. You and I both know that. Over the last 43 days, we've seen your colleague, Speaker Johnson, keep the House out of session. We've seen him delay swearing in one of your Democratic colleagues, Adelita Gajalva. I wonder how you would characterize your relationship with the Speaker at this point because I can remember, just last year, House Democrats voting to help him keep his job as Speaker.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, it's very interesting, and Marjorie Taylor Greene was on the other side of that issue-

ALI VITALI: She was-

LEADER JEFFRIES: And now Marjorie Taylor Greene continues to acknowledge that we have a healthcare crisis that has to be addressed, and that House Republicans have no clue as to what to do about it. That's, I think, our biggest challenge with both Mike Johnson and with the Republicans. That they promised to do one thing, lower the high cost of living, but have done nothing about it. If anything, through their One Big Ugly Bill, all they've done, largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripped $186 billion in SNAP benefits away from hungry children, seniors and veterans, and they did all of this so they could enact massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors, which they made permanent. That's our big challenge with Mike Johnson and with these Republicans-

ALI VITALI: So sorry to interrupt, Mr. Leader, but for you, the way that you deal as leader to leader, it feels like there's acrimony there that I did not see when this relationship began in a period of split government in Washington.

LEADER JEFFRIES: I wouldn't suggest that there's acrimony, but certainly there are going to be challenges moving forward in terms of real differences and policy friction. And there's also a challenge-it was irresponsible for Mike Johnson to keep House Republicans on a taxpayer-funded vacation for more than seven weeks and to castrate, you know, the House of Representatives as it relates to his majority. At the end of the day, we're a separate and co-equal branch of government. The problem with House Republicans is that they continue to function like a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Trump cartel, as opposed to what Democrats will do, which is serve as a check-and-balance on an out-of-control executive branch.

ALI VITALI: I wonder if, given that, you regret the way that the Caucus acted when his job was in jeopardy.

LEADER JEFFRIES: No, I think that every moment calls for the best possible decision at the time. Joe Biden was the President, Senate Democrats were in the majority. We had a responsibility to continue to move forward, particularly in that instance where we needed to fund our ally Ukraine that's in a war defending not just their territorial integrity, but also principles of democracy and freedom and truth.

ALI VITALI: Yeah, it was a different House at that point. We are in a different landscape now here. House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, I appreciate you waking up, first time on Way Too Early.

Full interview can be watched here.

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