LEADER JEFFRIES ON CNN: "WE'RE CALLING ON JOHN THUNE TO BRING THE BILL UP FOR A VOTE IMMEDIATELY"
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on CNN's The Situation Room, where he made clear that Democrats are demanding that Senate Republicans bring Democrats' House-passed extension of the ACA tax credits and will continue to push back on Donald Trump and Republicans' corruption.
WOLF BLITZER: Leader Jeffries, thanks so much for being with us. This measure is largely expected to go nowhere in the US Senate, as you know. Do you have any hope at all that something can still be worked out? I know you've been speaking with some Republican leaders in the Senate.
LEADER JEFFRIES: It was a big victory for the American people to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits to prevent tens of millions of everyday Americans from experiencing dramatically increased health insurance premiums that in some cases will cost them an additional $1,000 or $2,000 per month. That's unacceptable. That's why the House was able to come together in a bipartisan coalition, 213 Democrats partnering with 17 Republicans, to deliver a decisive vote. It's now on the Senate. Now, there are Republicans who claim that there's no path forward for this bill to become law. But that same group of people made that claim about what was possible in the House of Representatives. The reality is the American people have made clear that they want to see the Affordable Care Act tax credits extended. The American people understand we have a broken healthcare system. Democrats are committed to addressing the Republican healthcare crisis. And all we need are a handful of Senate Republicans to join with every single member of the Senate Democratic Caucus and we can get this bill done in the Senate as well.
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WOLF BLITZER: You think it's still doable, that there will be enough Republicans in the Senate to pass this legislation?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Listen, it's important to understand that a majority of the United States Senate currently supports a straightforward extension of the Affordable Care Act. All 47 Senate Democrats and four Senate Republicans have already been on record in support of this. So the obstacle right now is procedural. It's John Thune indicating that they don't want to do anything to protect healthcare affordability for millions of Americans, including people that he represents. And so it remains to be seen. We're calling on John Thune to bring the bill up for a vote immediately. And if that happens, Wolf, it's going to pass.
WOLF BLITZER: All right, we'll see what happens because there certainly is a lot at stake for so many millions of Americans right now. Some other sensitive issues, Leader Jeffries. You were among the Members of Congress briefed by the Trump administration after the capture of the Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro. What was your takeaway from those highly classified briefings?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Those briefings left more questions than answers. The administration has no plan moving forward. They claim they're going to run Venezuela. They can't even run the United States of America properly. And here's the reality: that the people of Venezuela should decide the future of Venezuela. Not Stephen Miller, who's out of control, or Secretary Rubio or the so-called Secretary of Defense. None of them should be involved in running or deciding the future of Venezuela. More importantly, we don't need another failed forever foreign war. That's why I'm so thankful by the action that the Senate took yesterday in passing a War Powers Resolution that will restrict the ability of the Trump administration to engage in further military action in the absence of congressional approval. On the House side, Jim McGovern is leading a similar War Powers Resolution effort. And we are going to force a vote on that resolution so we can stop the Trump administration from engaging in this reckless activity moving forward.
WOLF BLITZER: And on that issue that you raised, the War Powers legislation, a handful of Senate Republicans, we're talking specifically five of them, joined the Democrats in delivering a big rebuke to President Trump's actions in Venezuela. They voted to allow a future vote that would limit the President's powers in that conflict. The House is expected, as you correctly point out, to take a similar vote. What do you expect to happen in the House?
LEADER JEFFRIES: All we need are a handful of House Republicans to join with us, as was the case yesterday, and we can do the right thing by the American people. It's my expectation that the votes will exist within the House Republican Conference, and you'll have strong, of course, support from House Democrats who have been leading on this issue. The reality is the American People want the Trump administration to focus on solving their problems. Donald Trump promised that he was going to lower the high cost of living on day one. Costs aren't going down. They're going up. Housing costs out of control. Healthcare costs out of control. Grocery prices out of control. Child care costs out of control. Grocery prices, of course, as I mentioned, along with everyday goods, completely and totally out of control, unaffordable. America is too expensive, and the reality is the Trump tariffs are making things worse by thousands of additional dollars per year. And so the American people want action to improve their quality of life. House Democrats are committed to delivering that action, as we showed yesterday, and we just want a handful of Republicans to join us, and we can begin to get things turned around in the United States of America.
WOLF BLITZER: While I have you, another sensitive issue I want to discuss, the Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to meet next week with officials from Denmark after the White House said it would not rule out the use of military force to take the island of Greenland, which is part of Denmark. What's your response to the administration's push to acquire the Danish territory?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, listen, I was in Denmark, met with the Prime Minister last year. She made clear that Greenland is not for sale, and the future of Greenland should be decided by the people of Greenland in partnership, of course, with the people of Denmark. That's the reality of the situation. Denmark is an ally, a NATO ally. You had people fight in conflicts for America from Denmark, and they don't understand, just like the American people don't understand, this level of aggressive rhetoric. And again, the President is focused on these extreme foreign adventures, as opposed to trying to deal with issues that matter for the American people. As Democrats, we're going to continue to fight to lower the high cost of living, to improve their quality of life, to fix our broken healthcare system and we also have to clean up the corruption that we're seeing and ask the questions, following the money, is this the reason why we're seeing all of this aggressive foreign action? Who within the Trump orbit is going to benefit? What members of the Trump cartel stand to benefit financially from the things that we're seeing talked about in Venezuela as it relates to oil and in other parts of the world?
WOLF BLITZER: The Democratic House Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, as usual, thanks so much for joining us.
Interview can be watched here.