LEADER JEFFRIES: "DONALD TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS DEFINITIVELY WANTED TO SHUT THE GOVERNMENT DOWN"
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MSNBC's The Beat and reaffirmed that Republicans are causing the government shutdown because they are unwilling to protect healthcare, a central issue to the quality of life of the American people.
MELISSA MURRAY: Joining me now to discuss all of this is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Leader Jeffries, thanks for joining us. What can you tell us about where we are with these negotiations? Apparently, there's nothing to discuss.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, good evening, Melissa. Great to be with you. And that's exactly right. Since the White House meeting that took place on Monday, Republicans have gone radio silent. It's clear that they wanted to shut this government down, and they wanted to shut it down because they were unwilling to provide healthcare to working-class Americans. Our position remains the same. We're ready, we're willing, we're able to sit down with anyone, any time, any place—here at the Capitol or back at the White House—to have a conversation about reopening the government in the midst of this Trump shutdown, finding a bipartisan path toward reaching a spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people and making sure that we address the Republican healthcare crisis, which is devastating people all across the country.
MELISSA MURRAY: Can we talk a little bit about what you just said? The Democrats have been very clear in their messaging. You are emphasizing that the shutdown is about the Republicans refusing to restore healthcare funding, but some have argued that it would be equally compelling for the party to say that it is refusing to fund an administration and government that is bent on abusing its power. Why focus exclusively on healthcare? Why not carry both messages forward?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, in the legislation that we introduced as part of our Democratic approach related to avoiding a shutdown—or in this instance, now reopening it—we made clear two things: that we're faced with a massive Republican healthcare crisis related to the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. Hospitals and nursing homes and community-based health clinics are closing all across the country, including in rural America. And now Republicans are refusing to renew the Affordable Care Act tax credits for working-class Americans, everyday Americans and those who are struggling in this Trump economy, where life has already become far too expensive. And so, we believe that healthcare is a central issue. Republicans have said it's an extraneous issue. At the same time, in the Democratic proposal to continue funding, we've also indicated that we can't simply proceed as if this is business as usual. If we reach a bipartisan agreement, then we've got to make sure there are enforceability mechanisms to ensure that the agreement that was reached is actually kept and that the Trump administration follows the law.
MELISSA MURRAY: There's going to be a lot of pain here, not just in the area of healthcare. We are hearing that the administration is preparing for mass permanent firings. I just want to remind everyone that Project 2025, the GOP blueprint for the second Trump presidency, was unabashed in its desire to remake the federal government, including proposing massive cuts to the federal workforce. An architect of Project 2025, Russ Vought, is now the head of the White House Office of Management and Budget, and that's the group that's driving these planned firings. I'm going to play a tape of Speaker Johnson responding to questions about Vought's role in all of this, as well as tape of what Vought had to say before the election. Here it is.
VIDEO OF SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: Russ does this reluctantly. We had a 45-minute telephone conference with him yesterday. He talked to all the House Republicans. He takes no pleasure in this.
VIDEO OF OMB DIRECTOR RUSS VOUGHT: We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected. We want to put them in trauma.
MELISSA MURRAY: Speaker—Do you believe that Speaker [Johnson] is correct that this is not what Russ Vought wanted to do? Or does it seem like maybe the shutdown was a convenient vehicle for stripping down the federal government, and this is perhaps what they wanted all along?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, Donald Trump and Republicans definitively wanted to shut down the government. For them, cruelty is the point. But as it relates to mass firings, we've seen them engage in mass firings from the very beginning of this administration. And so, to the extent that they continue to proceed down this road in the context of the government shutdown, they'll simply use it as a pretense, but this is what they've wanted to do all along. But the American people are paying close attention. They know that Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency. They've shut this government down. Democrats are very clear. We want to reopen it. We stand by hardworking federal civil servants. We want to find a bipartisan path forward. But it's got to be an agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people in terms of their health, their safety and their economic well-being in an environment where the Trump economy is increasing costs on everyday Americans by thousands of dollars a year. And now, because of their refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, more than 20 million Americans are about to experience dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles. That's unacceptable in the wealthiest country in the history of the world.
MELISSA MURRAY: I'm glad you mentioned that the Republicans not only control the White House, but both chambers of Congress. And that puts Donald Trump right at the center of all of this. Earlier this week, your colleague, Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, confronted Speaker Johnson about the president. Take a listen.
VIDEO OF REP. MADELEINE DEAN: The President is unhinged. He is unwell.
VIDEO OF SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: A lot of folks on your side are, too. I don't control anyone.
VIDEO OF REP. MADELEINE DEAN: Oh my God, please. That performance in front of the generals?
VIDEO OF SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: I didn't see it.
VIDEO OF REP. MADELEINE DEAN: That is so dangerous. You know I serve on Foreign Affairs and Appropriations. It's a collision of those two things. Our allies are looking elsewhere. Our enemies are laughing.
VIDEO OF SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: I just left the Speaker's—
VIDEO OF REP. MADELEINE DEAN: You have a President who—you have a President who is unwell.
MELISSA MURRAY: Notably, Speaker Johnson doesn't actually deny the idea that President Trump is unwell. What do you make of that?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, the Speaker was clearly uncomfortable by that conversation, and Representative Dean always speaks truth to power. And here's the reality. We had a White House meeting. Subsequent to that meeting, the behavior that we've seen from Donald Trump has been unhinged and out of control, and clearly unserious at a moment when we should be actually conducting ourselves in a way to try to find a path forward. But their behavior demonstrates the fact that they wanted to shut this government down. They thought they could break the will of House and Senate Democrats. That's not happening. And it's not happening because we're standing up for everyday Americans. Cancel the cuts, lower the cost, save healthcare.
MELISSA MURRAY: In terms of who will be impacted most by this, Politico is reporting 'that these cuts will impact 16 states, including New York, all of which voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris.' Russ Vought has not publicly announced cuts that would affect a state that backed Trump in 2024. Leader Jeffries, is the pain of the shutdown going to be disproportionately borne by those in blue states? Is that the point of all of this?
LEADER JEFFRIES: I don't think that, in fact, is the case, and what we've actually seen throughout this Trump administration is that the pain that they've inflicted on the American people, the chaos, the extremism that has been unleashed on the American people, is impacting everyone. Their One Big Ugly Bill, which every single Democrat in the House and the Senate opposed, largest cut to Medicaid in American history. They ripped food out of the mouths of children, seniors and veterans. And all of this was done so they could provide massive permanent tax breaks to their billionaire donors, to the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected, to subsidize the lifestyles of the rich and shameless. And they did it at the expense of working-class Americans in blue states, in red states and in purple states. And the pain that they will try to inflict on the American people in the context of this Trump-Republican shutdown will impact everyone.
MELISSA MURRAY: Right. Before we let you go, Leader Jeffries, The [New York] Times is reporting that Trump has 'determined that we are in a war against drug cartels,' and, as you know, only Congress has the power to declare war. Are there any conversations ongoing among your colleagues about the extrajudicial killings that this administration has recently carried out in international waters and this new claim to war powers?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Yes, and those conversations are being led by Greg Meeks, the top Democrat on Foreign Affairs, Adam Smith, the top Democrat on Armed Services, and Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the Intel Committee, all of whom will continue to speak out forcefully and aggressively in defense of the Article I power as the only branch of government that can declare war. I support those efforts entirely and pushing back against another instance of executive overreach. And unfortunately, what we see from our House Republican colleagues is that they continue to behave as nothing more than a rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda.
MELISSA MURRAY: All right, Leader Jeffries, thank you so much for kicking us off tonight.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you.
Full interview can be watched here.