LEADER JEFFRIES ON MSNBC: “THE REPUBLICANS ARE JUST FALLING APART”

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MSNBC's The Briefing with Jen Psaki, where he highlighted that while Republicans still haven't bothered to return to Washington to reopen the government and address the healthcare crisis they created, Democrats are united and ready to end the Republican shutdown.

JEN PSAKI: Joining me now is House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. It's great to see you. You've had quite a day on the Hill today. I just played some of that scrum. You could hear-I think people watching could hear some of it, but what exactly happened there when Mike Lawler came up to you and sort of accosted you outside of a room on the Hill today?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well the streets are hot right now on Capitol Hill because the Republicans are just falling apart. They cannot justify their position having shut the government down. They cannot justify their position in terms of hiding the Epstein files from the American people. And they certainly cannot justify their position as it relates to the Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating people all across the country. So they're unraveling right in front of the eyes of the American people in an unhinged fashion. Donald Trump's unraveling. He's posting deepfake videos, then he's escaping to the golf course. Of course, the Speaker of the House is canceling votes last week, this week. Republicans are on vacation. And then Mike Lawler's just embarrassing himself, behaving like a malignant clown.

JEN PSAKI: I mean, what he seemed to be talking about there was the healthcare subsidies. You have the overwhelming majority of the public on your side according to a range of polls. The majority of MAGA supporters, the majority of Republicans and Independents. It seems like, though, Mike Johnson is unwilling or incapable of setting up a negotiation or coming to the table. Do you think he will do that unless Donald Trump calls him and says go have a negotiation? Is that what we're waiting for?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, that's absolutely what we're waiting for. And in fact, I made that clear in the Oval Office meeting. And Thune was there and Johnson was there and I said in front of them, listen, we know that there's only one person at the end of the day who's going to make the decisions here, and it's you, Donald Trump. Because the House and the Senate Republicans, they've long since given up on pretending to be a separate and co-equal branch of government. All they do is they take orders from Donald Trump and rubber stamp his extreme agenda. And so the challenge that we face right now as Democrats, Leader Schumer, myself, House, Senate Democrats, we've consistently made clear, we'll sit down with anyone, anytime, anyplace, on the Hill, back in the Oval Office, to find a bipartisan path toward reopening the government. But we have to enact a spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating people everywhere-working-class America, small-town America, suburban America, urban America, the heartland of America, and, of course, Black and brown communities throughout America along with rural America. Devastating people. They're hurting their own constituents. And one of the reasons why they're continuing to do it is because they'd just rather reward their billionaire donors, as opposed to extending tax credits connected to the Affordable Care Act that are actually for working-class, middle-class Americans and everyday Americans.

JEN PSAKI: There have been a range of studies that the majority of the people impacted, to your point, are people who live in states that voted for Trump. And 20 million people who would have their premiums go up. To your point, I mean, and I just want to keep restating, there have been many negotiations to reopen the government and negotiations to get bills done. You've been a part of a lot of them. The President has to play a pivotal role no matter who's in the White House. So does the Speaker of the House, no matter who the Speaker of the House is. The Speaker of the House is waiting for a call from Trump. You've met with Trump, but you've also seen since then, he said that there were negotiations happening that weren't happening. He seemed to suggest that furloughed workers weren't going to be paid. Do you think he even has the capacity? Understanding of the issues? Ability to lead these negotiations to a conclusion?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, that remains to be seen. It's all very unclear because the White House went radio silent after the meeting. Normally, what would occur, as you've indicated, as we've seen, is that the President would designate high-level members of his administration, his cabinet, to come down to Capitol Hill, negotiate with the opposition leaders, to try to find a path forward. That's how it's always been done. But for some reason, this group of extremists, they think that Democrats, we're just going to cave. We're not caving. We are standing up for the healthcare of the American people in the face of this relentless Republican attack on healthcare. Largest cut to Medicaid in American history. Hospitals, nursing homes, community-based health clinics closing because of what Republicans did in their One Big Ugly Bill. And now, they're refusing to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which is going to result in more than 20 million Americans experiencing dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles. This is unacceptable. America is already too expensive. Donald Trump hasn't lowered costs like he promised on day one. Costs are going up. And Democrats are fighting to address the cost of living crisis, and we're fighting to protect the healthcare of the American people.

JEN PSAKI: There also seems to be a little confusion as to where the momentum is. I mean, I know where the momentum is. You know where it is. Marjorie Taylor Greene even, I mean you don't agree with her on probably most things, but she seems to be concerned about the healthcare subsidies. Anyone who can read a poll, it's obviously the moral thing, but anyone who can a poll should know that. Have you been in touch with Marjorie Taylor Greene, talk about it?

LEADER JEFFRIES: I have not, but, you know, I agree with Marjorie Taylor Greene. I mean, I never thought I'd make this statement as it relates to the fact that we have an affordability crisis in America, and it's getting worse. And as she's pointed out, Republican leadership seems clueless about the fact that something needs to be done to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. By the way, addressing this issue doesn't just impact people who are on the Affordable Care Act. It impacts everyone because premiums, co-pays and deductibles are about to skyrocket for everyone, particularly if these Affordable Care Act tax credits aren't extended. […]

JEN PSAKI: There's so much going on on the Hill right now, as you know better than anyone. I also played this exchange or this interview that Speaker Johnson did, and also an exchange, I should say, where he basically denies that not swearing in Adelita Grijalva, who won her election more than two weeks ago, has anything to do with the Epstein files. We all know she's the 218th vote for the discharge petition. I assume you do not buy that at all.

LEADER JEFFRIES: We don't buy it at all, and we all know this is about the Epstein files and the fact that Republicans on the Hill for months have been doing Donald Trump's bidding and trying to hide these Epstein files from the American people, notwithstanding the fact that the victims have called for full transparency so there can be accountability. And we fully support these brave victims. And Mike Johnson and this group continue to cover up for the pedophiles. That's crazy. And as you pointed out, Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva-who's going to be a great Member, succeeding her legendary dad in the Congress, a progressive champion-she's made clear, I'm going to be the 218th vote on the discharge petition to force an up-or-down vote, which will pass the House, forcing the Trump administration to release the Epstein files. That explains, in part, why Republicans have been on vacation for the last several weeks. Literally, we have not been in session since September 19th. The Republicans got out of town before sundown, and they've not come back ever since, because they cannot justify their position across the board. They continue to hurt everyday Americans as part of their effort to simply reward their billionaire donors.

JEN PSAKI: Again, there was so much news happened today. I mean, one of the things that happened this morning was Trump said the [Mayor] of Chicago, Brandon Johnson and the Governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, should essentially be put in jail and jailed. When Mike Johnson was asked about it, he said, 'I'm not the Attorney General. I'm not following the day-to-day on that.' You may be the Speaker of the House in a year and a half. I assume if any President says they're going to put a Governor in jail, you'd be following that closely, and you would have a view on it.

LEADER JEFFRIES: That would be correct, and the answer would be, that is wrong, and it's not happening. This is not normal. And we continue to see this kind of extremism and extreme rhetoric coming from Donald Trump. All of this is unfolding, by the way, in the middle of a shutdown that they've caused, inflicting pain on the American people, and them continuing to refuse to address the assault on the healthcare of the American people that has been ongoing from the beginning of this presidency. But you know, unfortunately, and listen, Mike and I, we have a communicative relationship. We talk in a very forward-looking way. But at this particular point in time, the House Republican Conference is functioning like a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Trump administration. And that's deeply inconsistent with the way that the People's House should function, and it will definitely not function that way when Democrats take back control of the gavels, and it didn't function that way under the legendary leadership of Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi.

JEN PSAKI: Certainly it did not. She wouldn't have tolerated that for one moment. Before I let you go, I mean earlier tonight Trump posted on Truth Social that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first phase of a peace plan which includes the release of hostages, which is, of course, a very-piece of good news and the withdrawal of Israel's troops to an agreed-upon line. There's a lot we don't know. We don't know what that agreed-upon line is. We don't know more about how many troops will withdraw. Have you been briefed on it? And what do you think about what you know so far?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, we have not been briefed on it yet. but listen, all of the hostages need to be released. We need to end the devastation in Gaza, enough. We need to surge humanitarian assistance to those Palestinian civilians who have been in harm's way through no fault of their own for the last two years because they've been in a theater of war. And we need to create a pathway toward a just and lasting peace. And so I'm hopeful that all the parties have gotten together, signed off on phase one. And that we can actually see some meaningful progress in the Middle East moving forward. Remember, Donald Trump inherited a ceasefire from President Joe Biden, and it was promptly broken in a matter of weeks. And so I'm hopeful that we could actually see a renewal of that agreement, a permanent ceasefire, an end to Hamas, the Gulf states and the moderate Arab states working with the Palestinian people to identify Palestinian leadership so we can have self-determination. And, of course, Israel living side by side in peace and security and prosperity.

JEN PSAKI: A lot of details we don't know yet. I'm sure we'll learn more in the next couple of days. Leader Jeffries, thank you so much for being here. We covered a range of things, but I really appreciate you being here with us on set.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you, Jen.

Full interview can be watched here.

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