LEADER JEFFRIES: "HOUSE REPUBLICANS ARE DETERMINED TO CRASH THE ECONOMY"
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar held a press conference to emphasize that House Democrats remain committed to protecting our economy from an extreme MAGA Republican-engineered default.
LEADER JEFFRIES: America always pays our bills. Period. Full stop. That has been done under Democratic presidents and Republican presidents, largely without gamesmanship, partisanship or brinksmanship, because the consequences of a dangerous default will be catastrophic for everyday Americans. No one should want that to happen. Three times under the Trump administration, Democrats made sure that America would not default and that we paid our bills, notwithstanding our strong public policy disagreements with the Trump presidency, including, but not limited to, the passage of the GOP tax scam, where 83% of the benefits went to the wealthiest 1% to subsidize the lifestyles of the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected, and stick the American people with $2 trillion worth of debt. In fact, in our nation's 247-year history, 25% of the nation's debt was accumulated during the Trump presidency. That's fiscal responsibility? But yet, three times, House Democrats worked with the Trump administration without gamesmanship, partisanship, brinksmanship to make sure that America did not default and that we paid our bills.
So, why are things different right now? Why are House Republicans being so unreasonable and so extreme? Unfortunately, we can only really draw one conclusion. As we are on the brink of default, House Republicans are determined to either extract deep, painful cuts that will hurt the health, the safety and the well-being of everyday Americans, or crash the economy, default on our debt and trigger a painful recession. Those are the two options that House Republicans see as the only viable paths forward. Not our words. Donald Trump's words. The extreme wing of the House Republican Conference's words. Matt Gaetz's words. The American people should understand that House Republicans are determined to accomplish one of two objectives: deep, extreme, painful cuts that will hurt the health, the safety and the economic well-being of the American people, hurt veterans, hurt disabled children, hurt teachers, hurt Social Security recipients, hurt people who desperately need nutrition assistance or default on our debt. And many House Republicans have made their position clear. House Republicans are determined to crash the economy, because they believe it will benefit them politically. That is the only explanation for their extreme and inherently unreasonable behavior.
WHIP CLARK: Thank you, Mr. Leader. So here we are, just days away from economic catastrophe. Days away from higher mortgage payments, car loans, gutted retirement accounts, days away from losing 8 million jobs. Why? Because House Republicans have decided to default on America. So let's set the record straight. One, this is a battle between extremism and common sense. From the beginning, the White House has put forward reasonable solutions. On March 9th, the president released a budget that invests in the success of families and businesses while cutting the deficit by $3 trillion. Republicans waited until April 25th to respond with their Default On America bill. Extreme cuts to veterans health care, to child care and first responders, to teachers to the hungry people in this country, all to fund payouts for polluters and for those who want to cheat on their taxes.
This is not normal. This is a hostage situation. Even Matt Gaetz recognized that today. He said Republicans don't feel like we should negotiate with our hostage. Speaker McCarthy and Patrick McHenry both admitted that avoiding default is the only concession they're willing to offer. And who has the GOP taken hostage? It's not the White House. It's not Congress. It's not Democrats. It's the American people. They want the American people to make an impossible choice: devastating cuts, or devastating default. Decimate food assistance, or gut seniors' retirement savings. Pull kids out of child care, or destroy their parents' livelihoods. Cut $2 billion from veterans' health care, or wipe out 8 million jobs. This is also not about debt and it is not about spending. What's the evidence? As the Leader just laid out, Republicans racked up $8 trillion in debt under Donald Trump. One-quarter of everything we know in four short years, and at the same time, Republicans raised the debt ceiling three times, no strings attached.
They don't care about spending. They care what ends up in the pockets of the wealthy and the well-connected. And when the president offered to freeze spending, they said no. Not unless you make it easier for the rich to dodge the IRS. When they had that chance this week to correct course and fund health care for our veterans, when they had a chance to help our heroes who were exposed to toxic chemicals like Agent Orange – to toxic burn pits – they canceled the vote. I do not know how they are going to go home and look at our veterans this Memorial Day. But I know this, the American people are watching and they know House Republicans are responsible for this manufactured, very dangerous crisis. They are not going to forget. It takes a handful of members of the GOP to say enough. My message to them is this: be patriots. Put people over politics before it's too late. And with that, I yield to our Chairman, Pete Aguilar.
CHAIR AGUILAR: Thank you, Whip Clark, for keeping our Caucus united. House Democrats are proud to stand with Leader Jeffries and Whip Clark as they defend our values and our policy priorities. As Leader Jeffries has said time and time again, we cannot let the American economy be held hostage. Yesterday, extreme Republicans – who Kevin McCarthy owes the speakership to – conceded what Democrats have been saying for weeks, and Matt Gaetz said the quiet part out loud. That his colleagues support Limit, Save, Grow and they don't feel like they can negotiate with their hostage. That's how they feel, negotiate with their hostage. Let's be clear. We're not the hostage here. As the Whip said, the American public are the hostages here. Schoolteachers, firefighters, our seniors, our veterans, working families across this country who could lose their jobs if we default. That's who Matt Gaetz and Kevin McCarthy are holding hostage. And that's who House Democrats are holding the line for.
Full press conference can be watched here.