LEADER JEFFRIES ON CNBC: "HEALTHCARE IS NOT AN EXTRANEOUS ISSUE. IT IS A CENTRAL ISSUE TO THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE."
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box, where he affirmed Democrats' commitment to protecting the healthcare of the American people in the face of the reckless Republican-caused healthcare crisis.
BECKY QUICK: We just heard from House Speaker Mike Johnson about the potential for a government shutdown happening later tonight. Joining us right now to discuss it all is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. And sir, thank you for being with us today. I'm not sure if you heard what Leader Johnson had to say on some of these issues, but if you didn't, I'll kind of give it back to you. He said that this is a clean continuing resolution that's been put forth. It's the same thing that the Democrats voted for 13 times under Biden. That this would keep the House open, it would keep the government open. You could continue to negotiate. And he said that this is being done for pure politics, for Chuck Schumer's backside, I think, were his exact words on this. Would you care to respond to that, sir?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, that's all a lie. It's not a clean continuing resolution. In December of last year, Democrats and Republicans actually passed a bipartisan bill that was signed into law by President Joe Biden and also had the blessing of then-President-elect Donald Trump. That is the actual baseline of a bipartisan agreement. What the Republicans are attempting to continue at this point in time is a March partisan Republican spending bill that Democrats in the House of Representatives overwhelmingly rejected because we viewed it as an attack on veterans, an attack on child care, an attack on housing affordability and an attack on the healthcare of the American people. It's not a bipartisan spending agreement. It was a Trump partisan spending agreement, and we've been very clear as Democrats that we are ready, willing and able to try to find a bipartisan path forward to reach a spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people in terms of their health, their safety and their economic well-being, particularly in an environment where the cost of living in this country is already too high, America is too expensive and Republicans haven't lowered costs, costs are increasing. But we will not support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the healthcare of the American people.
BECKY QUICK: He said, on the healthcare front, that there is room for negotiation with the ACA, but he said that that deadline is not until December 31, when the existing tax benefits would fall off. He says that that should be negotiated separately and that they won't do it while there's a shutdown of the government. He also went on to say that this is in writing from the Democrats that they want healthcare for illegal immigrants to be part of this. They want to gut $50 billion that was included in the Big Beautiful Bill for rural hospitals, and that they want money there for Corporate Public Broadcasting as part of this, too.
LEADER JEFFRIES: The One Big Ugly Bill represented the largest attack on Medicaid in American history. The largest cut ever. Hospitals, nursing homes, community-based health clinics are closing all across America as a result, including in rural parts of the country. That One Big Ugly Bill actually stole food from the mouths of hungry children and seniors and veterans, and all of this was done so that Republicans could reward their billionaire donors with massive tax breaks, and in the process, skyrocket the deficit by north of $3 trillion. It was entirely irresponsible. It hurts everyday Americans, who we should be standing up for, in order to reward the wealthiest people amongst us. That's not an acceptable thing, and that's the climate and the environment that we're walking into. That said, we, of course, are willing to try to find that bipartisan common ground. But the urgency, as it relates to the Affordable Care Act tax credits, relates to the fact that beginning tomorrow, notices are going to go out to tens of millions of Americans, and it's going to be clear to them that their premiums, co-pays and deductibles are about to skyrocket thousands of dollars in additional expense in an environment where life is already too expensive for the overwhelming majority of the American people.
BECKY QUICK: Is it true that you want to restore American taxpayer benefits to illegal immigrants?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Of course not. And thank you for asking that question, because this is also an outright lie. Federal law prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars to provide medical coverage to undocumented individuals. That's the law. And there is nothing in anything that we have proposed that is trying to change that law. We are fighting for the healthcare of the American people, fighting to deal with the Republican healthcare crisis, which included the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. It includes the fact that Republicans have refused to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits time and time again, putting in jeopardy the healthcare of tens of millions of Americans. It's the fact that Medicare is going to face a $536 billion cut at the end of this year, if Congress doesn't act, because of what Republicans did in the One Big Ugly Bill. Our fight relates to the fact that hospitals and nursing homes and community-based health clinics are closing. No one in America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world—this great country of ours—should die because they can't find a bed or a room at a hospital because their hospital has closed as a result of what has happened with this Republican healthcare crisis. And on top of all of that, we see that Republicans have actually launched an assault on medical research in the United States of America in the Republican appropriations bill that is part of this process.
BECKY QUICK: Minority Leader, Minority Leader, let me just ask you. I'm going back and just looking at this. I think the questions about illegal immigrants getting these benefits go back to a term that's in your proposal that you've put forth that says legally present immigrants are eligible for all of these subsidies. And there's a big question about what 'lawfully present' means. Does that refer to people who are here under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programs? I guess there's different descriptions of what people see. What does that mean to you, 'lawful present'? Would it refer to DACA?
LEADER JEFFRIES: We had a meeting with the President of the United States yesterday and made clear we're not trying to change current law. We are fighting to protect the healthcare of the American people in rural America, in suburban America, in urban America, in small town America, in the heartland of America, in Black and brown communities all across America. That's what we're doing. That's why this fight is about. Mike Johnson—we have a very positive, forward-looking, communicative relationship, but he's been making the point that healthcare is an extraneous issue. No, healthcare is not an extraneous issue. It is a central issue to the quality of life of the American people. We don't want to shut the government down. That's not our approach, but Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency. If the government shuts down, it's their decision to do it.
JOE KERNEN: But this is a continuing resolution, and it's going to be—it's going to happen. All these things that you want to do, there's no way any of them are going to be negotiated by the time this happens. And if you shut down the government, you—last time, Democrats point out—you lose FEMA, you lose troop pay, you lose all these different things that are so important to Democrats when they're on the other side of this. If you're not going to get all these other things settled, you need to do the CR to get the government funded and then return to this and do it in the normal course of business for Congress. What is it that would get you to yes? I mean, and I think that you kind of danced around the illegal—you do want to provide healthcare to illegal immigrants that are here right now.
LEADER JEFFRIES: That's a Republican talking point, and it's shameful that you would continue—
JOE KERNEN: Is it true?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Of course not. I just said repeatedly that it is not. And we made that clear in the Oval Office to President Trump and to Republican leaders. We've made that clear repeatedly. It's a Republican talking point. In fact, I'm being gentle. It's a lie. We are fighting for the healthcare of the American people. And what we need to do is—
JOE KERNEN: What would you need then?
LEADER JEFFRIES: —to address the Republican—
JOE KERNEN: By tonight?
LEADER JEFFRIES: —healthcare crisis.
JOE KERNEN: What do you need by tonight to get you to yes?
LEADER JEFFRIES: I'll tell you what we need by tonight. Speaker Johnson should call Republican Members of Congress back from the vacation that they're on. They were supposed to be here. We were supposed to have votes yesterday and today so that we can actually arrive at a bipartisan agreement to keep the government funded and to do it in a way that actually enhances the quality of life of the American people. So that would actually be a useful first step.
BECKY QUICK: Do you think the government is going to shut down? Because it doesn't look like there's much give on either side.
LEADER JEFFRIES: We're here. We're in Washington, D.C. We look forward to having conversations throughout the day with the administration and with our Republican counterparts to try to arrive at a bipartisan agreement. But what we're not going to do is be part of essentially a my-way-or-the-highway approach. In other words, that Republicans simply say our view of the country is that we're going to continue to assault the healthcare of the American people, and Democrats, you should just go along with it. And our view is no, actually, we're not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the healthcare of the American people.
BECKY QUICK: There was some big pushback from the Progressive Caucus in the House yesterday when Chuck Schumer floated the idea of, you know, a way around this, a way to say, 'Okay, we can start the Democratic shutdown, but then we could make sure we pass some bills to allow much of the government funding to continue.' How much pushback do you get from the Progressive Caucus in the House? And what are they telling you at this point? Are they the ones who are kind of driving things?
LEADER JEFFRIES: We had a House Democratic Caucus meeting yesterday, and we are completely unified in defense of protecting the healthcare of the American people and fighting to lower the high cost of living. Donald Trump and Republicans promised to lower costs on day one. But costs aren't going down, they're going up. The Trump tariffs are adding thousands of dollars in additional expense to everyday Americans. Electricity bills are going up, housing costs continue to go up, grocery bills are going up and, of course, healthcare premiums, co-pays and deductibles are about to skyrocket. Millions of Americans in this country actually are going to confront medical bankruptcy. Our view is that is not acceptable. And so, I think what Leader Schumer said yesterday at our joint press conference, he was very clear that a short-term continuing resolution that differs in any way from what Democrats have proposed, which was legislation that was introduced and actually secured more votes in the Senate about a week ago than the partisan Republican proposal, that that is our starting point in terms of any conversation as it relates to making sure we fund the government in an enlightened way that makes sense for everyday Americans, for business, for industry, for the economy.
BECKY QUICK: Yesterday, sir, in the caucus that you're referring to, I think the shouts were heard outside the doors of 'hell no.' Does that tell you the resolve? Should we read into that? That there is no way you are going to go ahead with this, and we should buckle up and prepare for a long government shutdown?
LEADER JEFFRIES: We have a little over 12 hours or so before midnight. I think what would be helpful is if Republicans in the House of Representatives actually return for duty here in the Congress so that if we reach an agreement, we could actually pass an agreement as opposed to Republicans being on vacation all across the country and the world. That makes no sense to me. It never did. And it's an indication that I think House Republicans actually are the ones who want to shut the government down.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Minority Leader, while we have you here, and I know you're busy working on keeping the government open, hopefully, but a question here in New York. We're all very curious. Do you plan to endorse the Democratic frontrunner at this point? I know there's been some reporting that you're in talks to do something like that.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, I issued a statement on Sunday, I believe it was, in connection with the decision by Mayor Eric Adams not to seek reelection. He's someone that I've known for over 25 years. He's had a long journey in public service. Actually, Mayor Adams and I started our careers at the same time, him in the State Senate and myself in the State Assembly. And I respect his contributions to the city of New York, his contributions as Mayor, and of course, before that, as State Senator. And perhaps even most importantly, as someone who wore the uniform to protect and serve. I also indicated in that statement that I'm focused right now, laser-like, on avoiding a government shutdown and making sure we address the Republican healthcare crisis. And that I would have more to say about the Mayor's race and the remaining candidates sometime soon.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Okay. Well, come on back, and hopefully we'll get a chance to talk about that as well. We wish you luck over the next 12 hours, and we can all, you know, cross our fingers.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Thanks.
Full interview can be watched here.