LEADER JEFFRIES ON CNN: "WE WILL COMMENCE IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST KRISTI NOEM IN THE ABSENCE OF HER BEING FIRED"
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on CNN News Central, where he made clear that Democrats are fighting back to protect the American people from the out-of-control, lawless behavior by ICE, DHS Secretary Noem and Donald Trump.
KATE BOLDUAN: Joining me now to talk about this is the Democratic Leader in the House, Hakeem Jeffries. Leader, thank you so much for being here. I want to ask you first about Ilhan Omar, the Congresswoman. You heard Sara has done extensive—she was in the room at the time. Capitol Police have spoken out and said this is horrendous and this man should be brought to—have the toughest charges brought against him possible. The President spoke overnight about this, admitted that he had not seen the video, but told ABC News 'she probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.' What's your reaction to this?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, that's a disgusting comment and the President's lies and misinformation continue to fan the flames of these type of violent incidents. And it's at a moment like this where we actually need leadership from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and it is something that we never get from this President. Ilhan Omar, of course, is a strong, courageous, hardworking public servant. This should have never happened. I'm thankful that she is physically okay. She's mentally strong, as is always the case, and we stand by her.
KATE BOLDUAN: Much more to learn about all of that still. You posted yesterday with regard to DHS, what's happening in Minneapolis, the Secretary of Homeland Security. You put out a statement yesterday that said, 'dramatic changes at the Department of Homeland Security are needed...Kristi Noem should be fired immediately, or we will commence impeachment proceedings...We can do this the easy way or the hard way.' Does that mean you now support the effort to try and impeach Kristi Noem?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Donald Trump needs to fire Kristi Noem immediately. We know that she is a malignant, corrupt, pathological liar. She's unqualified. She never should have been confirmed by Republicans in the United States Senate. She is creating harm to the American people. Taxpayer dollars are actually being used by the Department of Homeland Security to kill American citizens and to brutalize law-abiding immigrant families, that's unacceptable. So she's gotta go—
KATE BOLDUAN: Okay, short of him firing her, you support moving towards impeachment?
LEADER JEFFRIES: We will commence impeachment proceedings against Kristi Noem in the absence of her being fired.
KATE BOLDUAN: Do you want to force a vote unilaterally, or do you want to launch an investigation in the minority?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we're in conversation with Bennie Thompson, Jamie Raskin, Robert Garcia about next steps in the process. We want to make the case to the American people as to why Kristi Noem's continued leadership creates problems in terms of the health, the safety and the well-being of the American people. And we'll do that in ways that Democrats have done in the past even though we're in the minority because the issue is significant enough. We've held hearings on other issues such as the cost of living, protecting Social Security, the healthcare of the American people. We can hold hearings as it relates to how destructive Kristi Noem's continued presence will be.
KATE BOLDUAN: Virtue signaling and a messaging operation is— can be worthwhile, especially when you're trying to speak to the public, but is that enough, if that's what this ends up being?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Congress has the power to impeach someone who has committed crimes against the Constitution and the American people. So it's not virtue signaling—
KATE BOLDUAN: But, when you are in the majority. When you are in the majority.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, no. As you know, the impeachment process is one of the few areas where every single Member has the privilege to bring a resolution to the floor of the House of Representatives and, at the appropriate time, force an up-or-down vote. By the way, even though we've been in the minority, we've compelled Republicans to move legislation to release the Epstein files. We've compelled Republicans to move legislation to wipe away one of Trump's most toxic executive orders, which is stripping rights away from more than a million different hardworking federal employees, collective bargaining rights. And of course, House Democrats, against all odds, were able to move a clean extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits—in the minority—and all 213 House Democrats were joined by 17 Republicans to protect the healthcare of the American people. If we've done it before, we can do it again.
KATE BOLDUAN: On this issue, many Republicans are not okay with what they're seeing in Minneapolis either. As I mentioned, this seems a break from the President on this immigration effort in a bigger way than we have seen before. I mean, John Thune yesterday called this moment after Alex Pretti's death an inflection point. I want to play for you also what Thom Tillis said, because he is now the first, I would say, think it's the first in his party to call for Noem's firing. Let me play this for you.
RECORDING OF SENATOR TILLIS: I think if Noem looks at her body of work, I could not be—if I were in her position, I can't think of any point of pride over the last year. She is taking this administration into the ground on an issue that we should own. We should own the issue of border security and immigration. But they have destroyed that for Republicans, something that got the President elected. They have destroyed it through their incompetence.
KATE BOLDUAN: Bipartisanship is not something we find on Capitol Hill very often, for sure. Do you see an ally in Thom Tillis?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, Thom Tillis is correct in his observations. The administration has been a disaster for the American people. They failed on the economy, failed to lower the high cost of living, failed on healthcare. They're ripping healthcare away from the American people. By the way, in their One Big Ugly Bill, they enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history and, in the same bill, gave the Department of Homeland Security $191 billion in taxpayer money, $75 billion of which went to ICE. That taxpayer money is now being used to kill American citizens. It's all unacceptable. We need Department of Homeland Security agents to behave like every other law enforcement agency in the country, not like a toxic paramilitary organization.
KATE BOLDUAN: Do—you say he has his facts right, but do you commend him for speaking out where a lot of Republicans don't? Even John Thune calling this an inflection point. Do you see allies in them in this effort?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we're going to work with anyone on the other side of the aisle who actually understands that dramatic changes are needed to the manner in which the Trump administration has been conducting itself with respect to immigration policy. The American people are demanding change, and we're going to aggressively support it.
KATE BOLDUAN: Change. Define change. I know—and don't give me the line of I'm not going to negotiate in public. Thune said—
LEADER JEFFRIES: That's not a line that I often use, by the way—
KATE BOLDUAN: True, true, true. Thune said, 'What do Democrats want?' in terms of changes in order to approve the funding that is now before you. Is Noem out enough to support DHS funding?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Kristi Noem being fired or removed from office is, of course, not enough. It's a start—
KATE BOLDUAN: What is the change?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, there's a variety of different things that have been put on the table. First of all, there's the basic value and principle that taxpayer dollars can't be used to kill American citizens, to brutalize American communities and to target—violently—law-abiding citizens—
KATE BOLDUAN: Currently, that's not a policy that says you can use taxpayer dollars to kill American citizens, you see what I'm saying?—
LEADER JEFFRIES: No, that's clearly what's happening. We have a DHS killing machine. The American people have seen it. That's the reality of what happened to Alex Pretti. It's the reality of what happened to Renee Nicole Good. It's the reality to the fact that dozens of people have actually died in ICE detention over the last year. This is an administration that promised to deport violent felons. We all support that, but that's not what's happening right now. We also need ICE to conduct itself like every other law enforcement agency in the country. That means judicial warrants. That means no masks. That means body cameras. That means when officers actually break the law, they should be held criminally accountable for their behavior. That's what happens to every other law enforcement agency in the country. But you have this administration saying ICE is absolutely immune, which is part of the reason why you see these people behaving in this kind of rogue fashion.
KATE BOLDUAN: I see. Heard three suggestions at least for changes to DHS policy. Let's see what happens. Thank you very much for coming in on a very critical day.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you.
Interview can be watched here.