LEADER JEFFRIES ON CNN: "DEMOCRATS ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON DELIVERING FOR EVERYDAY AMERICANS"
Brooklyn, NY – Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries joined CNN This Morning with Phil Mattingly where he highlighted that while extreme MAGA Republicans continue to hold Congress hostage, Democrats are fighting to lower health care costs, grow the economy and defend our freedoms.
MATTINGLY: Sir, thanks so much for taking the time. I want to start there because it feels like it's not-no longer an if, but a when, potentially as soon as the end of next month is what our colleague Melanie Zanona, who I know you know quite well, has been reporting. Your response to Republicans inching towards launching an impeachment inquiry into the president.
JEFFRIES: Well throughout this year, the American people have been forced to deal with a do-nothing extreme Republican Congress that has done nothing to make a difference in the economy, nothing to make a difference with respect to job creation, nothing as it relates to health care affordability, nothing as it relates to inflation, nothing as it relates to public safety. They have nothing to show for their majority throughout the year. And so as a natural consequence of that, they just continue to take orders from Donald Trump, their puppet master in chief, who has directed them to persecute and to go after Joe Biden, which may take the form of an illegitimate impeachment inquiry.
MATTINGLY: Do you feel, you know, one of the things that our colleagues have been reporting, Melanie and others, has been-they're not going to have a vote to launch the impeachment inquiry because they don't have 218 votes, mainly because frontline Republicans, the majority makers, many of which-many of them come from your state of New York, aren't necessarily there yet. I've talked to some of them behind the scenes. They say exactly that. Do you feel like politically it would be advantageous for you if they decide to go down this path?
JEFFRIES: Well, I'll leave the political assessments to others. I think that from a policy perspective, it's exactly the wrong thing to do. As House Democrats we're going to continue to focus on delivering for everyday Americans, making a difference in the lives of everyday Americans. There's so many challenges that we need to continue to confront. President Biden is leading in an extraordinary way, trying to build an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, as opposed to the top down, which had been the case under Republican presidents. And we're going to continue to support him in that effort. There also are issues related to gun safety that we should be tackling. This is a uniquely American problem and it's tragic. We shouldn't have children who have to familiarise themselves with active shooter drills as early as kindergarten all across the country. We should be tackling gun safety and some commonsense measures that we support. But instead, what we see are Republicans, with this do-nothing extreme majority, wasting the time and the treasure of the American people. And that's unfortunate.
MATTINGLY: I do want to ask you about both the economy and on the Jacksonville shooting and gun safety in a second, but I do have one more. We had the key Republican-House Republicans yesterday wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding information about the investigation into Hunter Biden, saying, "Since the early days of its investigation concerning Hunter Biden, DOJ has deviated from its standard investigative procedure and afforded Hunter Biden special privileges not afforded to other Americans." I understand your point about policy and what you guys have been focusing on as a Caucus, but you also have a role, your ranking members have a role, in kind of this back and forth when they go down this path, defending the president, defending the president's family to some degree. Are you confident when you look at what the Justice Department has done, when you look at the investigations into Hunter Biden that the Republicans have pursued up to this point, that there hasn't been any wrongdoing, everything's been above board.
JEFFRIES: Yes, I'm extremely confident. The American people know, fundamentally, that Joe Biden is a good and decent man who's dedicated his life to public service and will continue to serve the people honorably and admirably. On the other hand, you've got people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and George Santos and others who are running the show amongst the House Republican majority. It's an extreme group of people who aren't really trying to improve the lives of the American people. As Democrats, we're going to continue to put people over politics and to focus on lowering costs, better-paying jobs, safer communities, growing the economy for the middle class and delivering. That will be a clear contrast that will be available to us to present to the American people in November of 2024.
MATTINGLY: You know, there's a possibility that contrast gets laid bare with the deadline that's coming up at the end of next month. It's the fiscal deadline. Spending bills have to be done or a continuing resolution has to be signed. I've lived in the appropriations world for many years, and if I go down that rabbit hole, my team's probably not going to be happy with me, but to topline it to some degree. There is no conference right now. There's no-neither chamber has started to reconcile all 12 appropriations bills. Nobody thinks that's going to happen. Have you spoken to Speaker McCarthy about a continuing resolution? Do you think that the government's going to shut down?
JEFFRIES: I have not spoken to Speaker McCarthy about a continuing resolution recently. I do expect that at some point in time, within the next week or so, we'll begin to intensify those conversations. I have, of course, spoken to the Biden administration, spoke yesterday to Leader Chuck Schumer. We all agree that the right thing to do is to make sure that we can continue to provide funding for the government so that the federal government can provide for the health, the safety and the economic well-being of the American people. That is our fundamental responsibility. But again, dealing with an extreme group of people, this extreme MAGA Republican majority that right now temporarily holds the gavels in the House of Representatives. There's an inability to function, to do the basics of what is required as Members of Congress and to focus on solving problems for the American people. So the extreme MAGA Republicans are marching us toward a reckless government shutdown because what they want to try to do is to jam their right-wing ideology down the throats of the American people. That's exactly the wrong thing that should occur.
MATTINGLY: So do you think, though-McCarthy controls the floor? Do you think a shutdown is inevitable if that's the path they pursue?
JEFFRIES: It remains to be seen. We're going to work as hard as we can to stop a reckless shutdown from taking place. But ultimately, that is-that is the area that the extreme MAGA Republicans are going to have to make a decision about whether they want to govern or whether they want to continue-continue to peddle their right-wing ideology.
MATTINGLY: You know, a side element of this-the administration set up an emergency spending proposal that included both disaster funding. We're talking about hurricanes right now as well, but also included additional Ukraine funding. If you pull up, I think the latest polling on where the American public is on Ukraine polling, I think it was 45% say yes and more, 55% say no. It's a major issue inside the Republican conference. By the end of September, will the additional Ukraine funding be approved?
JEFFRIES: Well, I think that it's going to be important for us to continue to be there for the Ukrainian people as they fight valiantly against Russia. This is a conflict not just between Ukraine and Russia. It's a conflict between democracy and autocracy, between freedom and tyranny, between truth and propaganda. And we should continue to stand on the side of the free world. At the same time, we have to provide for the needs of the American people. So, as House Democrats, we are going to continue to work with President Biden to implement the historic legislative agenda that was passed in the previous Congress under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, in partnership with Democrats in the Senate and the Biden administration, to implement the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will ensure clean water in every single community, fix our crumbling bridges, roads, tunnels, airports, water, sewer systems, create good-paying jobs. We need to implement the CHIPS and Science Act, which is bringing domestic manufacturing jobs back home to the United States of America. Incredibly important. And the Inflation Reduction Act to combat the climate crisis, lower drug costs, give Medicare the ability to negotiate reducing prices for the seniors of America.These are the things that we will continue to focus on.
MATTINGLY: And that's exactly what I want to ask you about, because in terms of the two years prior to now, from a legislative achievement standpoint, in terms of policy priorities, you mentioned CHIPS, you mentioned Infrastructure, you mentioned the Inflation Reduction Act. I'm not sure scale wise, we've seen something, particularly with the very slim majorities that President Biden had. And yet when you take a look at the polling and I know you're very familiar with this, you've been in the districts talking in the last several weeks. You know, a CNN poll from earlier this month shows that despite the positive macroeconomic indicators, despite those legislative victories, 63% of Americans disapprove of the way Biden has handled the economy. That disconnect, I know, has flummoxed and frustrated White House officials from when I covered them for the last two plus years. Why do you think that is? How do you rectify that in your mind?
JEFFRIES: Well, President Biden, the administration, Democrats in the House and Senate, we've been busy governing. And that's important because we've delivered historic results for the American people on issue after issue after issue, including being there for our veterans who've been exposed to toxic substances and burn pits and Agent Orange or being there for the American people in terms of gun safety legislation for the first time in 30 years. We've been governing. We've been busy getting things done. Over the next 12 months or so, we'll have an opportunity to both implement those accomplishments and, at the same time, communicate them to the American people, not to say to the American people, reward us, but we can list those accomplishments and elevate them to say to the American people, trust us that we've made progress as it relates to the economy and kitchen table, pocketbook issues. And we will continue to build upon that progress to do more to make life better for everyday Americans.
MATTINGLY: Very critical announcement from the administration today in terms of the ten drugs that they'll be able to start negotiating prices on, according to the White House just moments ago. I do want to ask you, you've been out in the districts. You'll be the next speaker, presumably, if your Caucus abides, if Democrats take control of the House, the majority for Republicans is very slim. If you flip your New York seats, you have a path to the majority, if you hold on. When you look around New York right now, do you believe you will flip those seats? And how many do you think you can flip in 2024?
JEFFRIES: Well, we're going to work very hard in order to deliver the majority here in New York and all across the country so we can continue to get work done, do a job for the American people that is designed to deliver for them. More money in their pockets, more freedom, certainly reproductive freedom, freedom to vote, as well as more time with their families. These are basic things that unite, we believe, Democrats, Independents and Republicans. That's our message as we move forward. People over Politics, delivering, making life better, building an economy that works for everyday Americans.
MATTINGLY: Do you have the recruits though, to do that?
JEFFRIES: Yeah, I'm confident.
MATTINGLY: Even with some of the primaries that are breaking out right now?
JEFFRIES: Primaries are a good thing and it's part of American democracy. And I am confident that whoever emerges in these primaries in New York and across the country will be strongly positioned to defeat these extreme MAGA Republican individuals who are currently in the House of Representatives — who act like moderates, but who really have extreme voting records — vote with George Santos and Marjorie Taylor Greene almost every step of the way.
MATTINGLY: Even when President Biden seemed to say Mike Lawler was perhaps one of those moderate Republicans?
JEFFRIES: I think we're going to have to make the case individually in every particular district. President Biden – as I mentioned earlier – is a good and decent man. And will continue to be. But, you know, we are going to draw a clear contrast with the voting records of each and every one of the individuals who currently hold seats that we should win back in New York, in California, in Arizona, all across the land.
MATTINGLY: A lot of policy, a lot of politics. No shortage of things on your plate this August. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thanks so much for coming in.
JEFFRIES: Thank you.
Full press interview can be watched here.