LEADER JEFFRIES ON CNN: "HOUSE DEMOCRATS HAVE INTRODUCED LEGISLATION TO EXTEND THE ACA TAX CREDITS FOR THREE YEARS"
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on CNN News Central, where he made clear that Democrats will continue working to protect the healthcare of the American people and push back against the corruption and extremism being unleashed by this administration.
JOHN BERMAN: With us now is the House Minority Leader, Democrat Hakeem Jeffries. Congressman, thank you so much for being with us. So it does look like this vote will be next week. What do you think it will tell us? Where are their numbers right now?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, good morning, great to be with you. It's my expectation that the legislation will pass, potentially pass decisively. Democrats in the House, of course, will strongly support it. We believe in transparency. We believe it's been far too long that this information has been hidden from the American people. And it's extraordinary that rather than focus on trying to actually extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, drive down the high cost of living or make life better for the American people, Donald Trump and his folks have spent this week pressuring Republicans not to back the effort to release these Jeffrey Epstein files to the American people.
JOHN BERMAN: Now, this week, Republican Congressman Tim Burchett, once it was clear that the discharge petition would get enough votes, Tim Burchett tried to actually get a vote on the House floor this week. And through House procedures, apparently, it would have required leadership on both sides to sign on. House Speaker Mike Johnson says you wouldn't sign on to having a vote this week. Why not?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, that's actually inaccurate. It appears to me Mike Johnson didn't reach out. He spent seven weeks stopping Representative Adelita Grijalva from being sworn in. And the reason why they were on vacation, a taxpayer-funded vacation for seven weeks, is because they had no answers for the American people on the healthcare crisis that Republicans have created, and they were unwilling to swear in Representative Adelita Grijalva because they knew she would be the 218th signature to trigger this up-or-down vote. So I have no idea what Mike Johnson is talking about.
JOHN BERMAN: It is interesting to me that, as we're talking about this, you keep on turning the discussion back to healthcare and affordability. What risks are there, do you think, for Democrats in spending too much time on Epstein as opposed to these bread and butter, you know, kitchen table issues for the American people?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we have to focus on a variety of different issues that we know are important to the American people. And the American people deserve better than the extremism that has been unleashed on them from day one of this presidency. And it certainly is the case that we're going to continue to focus on driving down the high cost of living in this country. America is far too expensive. The American people all across the country have made that clear repeatedly. Housing costs too high. Grocery costs too high. Child care costs too high. Electricity bills through the roof. And, of course, healthcare premiums about to skyrocket for tens of millions of Americans because of Republican inaction. But at the same period of time, we've made clear we also need to address the rampant corruption that we see in Washington, D.C., coming out of the Trump administration and enabled repeatedly by Donald Trump's sycophants in the House Republican Conference. And as part of that—transparency, sunlight, of course, is the best disinfectant. And we've maintained from the very beginning that the American people just deserve the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth as it relates to the Epstein files that Donald Trump and his minions made a big deal about for years, but now all of a sudden that they're in office, they're trying to bury this information.
JOHN BERMAN: The government obviously now open. It had been shut down for some time, Democrats trying to get an extension of the Obamacare subsidies. When this continuing resolution runs out at the end of January, if there is not an extension of the Obamacare subsidies, what do you want Democrats to do? More importantly, what do you want, I suppose, the Senate to do?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, let's take one step at a time. The Affordable Care Act tax credits are scheduled to lapse on December 31. And so, we have about 45 days to get this done. House Democrats have introduced legislation to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years to provide working-class Americans, middle-class Americans and everyday Americans the certainty that they need that they'll be able to actually go see a doctor when they need to see one for themselves, their families or their children in an environment where Republicans have launched an all-out assault on the healthcare of the American people, the largest cut in Medicaid in American history. Hospitals and nursing homes and community-based health centers are closing all throughout America. Now they refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, John. So we've got to work on this issue over the next 45 days, and we're going to continue to press the case.
JOHN BERMAN: And if you don't succeed?
LEADER JEFFRIES: The appropriations process is going to proceed on a separate track, and that's being led, of course, by our appropriators, Rosa DeLauro on the House Democratic side, who's doing a great job, working with our Senate colleagues. And we're going to try to enact bipartisan spending agreements that actually meet the needs of the American people, focused on improving their quality of life and, of course, driving down the high cost of living to deal with the Trump affordability crisis that exists in America right now.
JOHN BERMAN: I mean, you know politics. You've been in it for a while, and you know this is the type of question that does get asked after a shutdown like this. Who won the shutdown?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, the American people lost because Republicans made a decision, made a decision intentionally—they control the House, the Senate and the presidency—that they'd rather shut the government down than actually provide affordable healthcare to everyday Americans all across the country, including in the states that are going to be most affected, which happen to be states like West Virginia, Wyoming, Alaska, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina, Alabama, North Dakota and South Dakota. Those are the 10 states most affected by the failure to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. And Republicans have been able to do everything else, including finding $40 billion to bail out Argentina, but unwilling to find a dime to actually provide affordable healthcare to everyday Americans. And so, hopefully, they'll adopt a different approach. And we're going to continue to press the case on these core issues of making life better for everyday Americans in a country that is far too expensive, far too many people struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. They can't thrive and can barely survive. This should not be the case in the wealthiest country in the history of the world.
JOHN BERMAN: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, we do appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.
Full interview can be watched here.