LEADER JEFFRIES ON MSNBC: “THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION NEEDS TO COMPLY WITH THE LAW. THESE BENEFITS SHOULD BE RELEASED TODAY”

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MSNBC's Velshi, where he made clear that Democrats will continue fighting against the healthcare and hunger crises that Republicans are inflicting on the American people as they simultaneously refuse to reopen the government.

ALI VELSHI: Joining me now is the House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York. Leader Jeffries, welcome. Thank you for joining us. I want to talk to you first about this most urgent matter, and that is these SNAP benefits. It's very unclear. Two separate judges said the government can't do this. Donald Trump basically said not clear exactly how we're going to do this. Where do you believe things stand and where should they be?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, the law is clear, the courts have been clear and the morality of it is clear. The Trump administration needs to release these benefits. They have the funds for a contingency situation like we confront, but this is a choice that they have made to violate the law as part of an effort to pressure the Congress to continue to gut the healthcare of the American people. It's an extraordinary thing. And as you indicated, Ali, at your beginning, the Trump administration and Republican policies have been a complete and total disaster for the American people. Costs haven't gone down, they're going up. Grocery costs are up. Housing costs are up. Electricity prices are through the roof. And now, 42 million Americans, including 16 million children, are confronted with the possibility that they may not be able to put food on the table because of a crisis that the Trump administration is inflicting on them.

ALI VELSHI: Your goal, the Democrats' goal with not supporting the reopening of the government has been to try and secure these ACA subsidy extensions, which will kick in at the end of the year, beginning of 2026. But for people who are in open enrollment starting today, they'll see these new premiums. So tell me how this affects your approach to the shutdown and getting these ACA subsidies extended.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, our approach from the very beginning has been clear. House Democrats, working with Senate Democrats under the leadership of Chuck Schumer, has been-we want to reopen the government. We want to do it immediately. We want to enact a bipartisan spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people and improves their quality of life, as opposed to continuing these destructive Republican policies. And, of course, we want to address the Republican healthcare crisis in a situation where their refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits is going to result in tens of millions of people experiencing dramatically-increased healthcare premiums. In many instances, people are going to be forced to pay $1,000 or $2,000 per month. These are working-class families, middle-class families. The average family that receives these tax credits makes around $60,000 or so per year. This is incredibly unaffordable. And now that we're in open enrollment, it's going to be even clearer to people throughout the country, including in red states like Louisiana that Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise purport to represent, that this is a very real crisis that Congress must decisively address now.

ALI VELSHI: Let's go back to the SNAP issue for a second. There are a number of Republican Senators who are concerned, as they should be, about healthcare that people in their states are going to be heavily affected by this-Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins. Josh Hawley, by the way, is proposing that the Senate restore SNAP funding. Chuck Schumer has said he's open to supporting a move to do that. Talk to me about how that would work. Do you think that's likely? And then what happens in the House? Which, you know, Speaker Johnson still isn't looking to move on this.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, Speaker Johnson is not looking to move on anything because the House has now canceled votes for six consecutive weeks. These extremists have been on vacation, camping or traveling the world including spending time in Europe, while their constituents are suffering and while they've shut the government down. This is extraordinary. Now, from our perspective as House Democrats, we've made clear we will consider in good faith anything that emerges from the Senate in a bipartisan way that reopens the government, of course, that enacts an enlightened spending agreement and addresses these twin crises moments that we now are confronting because of Republican cruelty and extremism, both the hunger crisis that is upon us and the ongoing healthcare crisis because of failed Republican policies that include doing things like the largest cut to Medicaid in American history and shutting hospitals, nursing homes and community-based health centers down. Now, the Trump administration just needs to comply with the law. These benefits should be released today. These two federal courts issued these rulings yesterday. Donald Trump claims to know nothing about it, which is extraordinary, because it's his administration that was arguing against the Democratic Attorneys General saying we don't have the ability to release this money. Yes, you do. And it needs to be done immediately.

ALI VELSHI: Kind of wild. The court said you do. And then he said, well, maybe the courts can tell us how we do. I want to ask you one question. In New York City and your district, advanced polling for the New York mayoral race has been through the roof. It's running at about five times normal. What's your message to New Yorkers right now?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, this is the last weekend of early voting, and we're encouraging everyone to come out and exercise your right to determine who will serve in office at all levels-the City Council, the Borough President, the DAs, of course, the Mayor, the Comptroller and the Public Advocate. This is our democracy. In order for us to keep it, we've got to aggressively participate in it.

ALI VELSHI: Leader Jeffries, good to see you. Thank you for joining us, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Full interview can be watched here.

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