LEADER JEFFRIES ON MS NOW: "IN THE EVENT KRISTI NOEM IS NOT TERMINATED, WE ARE PREPARED TO INITIATE IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS"
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MS NOW's Chris Jansing Reports, where he made clear that Democrats have called for Kristi Noem to be fired and will continue to use every avenue available to hold Donald Trump and DHS accountable for their out of control behavior.
CHRIS JANSING: Joining us now, House Minority Leader New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. It's good to see you. What do you make of the President's full-throated support of Kristi Noem? [...]
LEADER JEFFRIES: Good afternoon, Chris. Thank you for having me on. Kristi Noem is a despicable, corrupt, pathological liar. We've seen her slander not just one but two American citizens, patriotic Americans who were killed without justification on the streets of Minneapolis in the last few weeks. She's deeply unqualified. She never should have been confirmed to begin with by Senate Republicans. And House Democrats have called for her to be fired immediately. And in the event that she is not terminated, we are prepared to initiate impeachment proceedings against her in the House of Representatives.
CHRIS JANSING: Well, the President has given no indication that he's ready to fire her or even thinking about it. And you, as I don't need to tell you, are in the minority. So how do you do that? I mean, what can you do? Have you spoken to the Speaker? Do you have any sense that there are Republicans who would stand by you in an impeachment process?
LEADER JEFFRIES: We have to build the case so that we can convince a handful of Republicans, as we have done on other issues, that the time is now to hold the Department of Homeland Security accountable for their behavior. They are conducting themselves like a paramilitary organization as opposed to protecting the health, the safety and the well-being of the American people. They are violently targeting American citizens and law-abiding immigrant families and it's unacceptable, it's unconscionable and it's un-American. We're prepared to hold hearings, as we've done in other instances, and use every tool available to make sure that Kristi Noem is held accountable, but even more importantly, of course, we support the effort by Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats to force common sense changes to the Department of Homeland Security so that these law enforcement agencies are behaving like every other law enforcement agency in the country, as opposed to like a paramilitary organization, which is what the American people have seen on the streets of Minneapolis.
CHRIS JANSING: Are there conversations going on with Republicans to make that happen? Do you see any reasonable expectation that the government is not going to shut down at the end of the week?
LEADER JEFFRIES: What has been proposed by Senate Democrats, which is something that we of course strongly support, is that there are bipartisan bills related to other aspects of the government that should move forward to avoid an extended shutdown in other areas. The issue before us is making sure that ICE, of course, is brought under control in ways that taxpayer dollars are not being spent to kill American citizens or brutalize everyday Americans. We know taxpayer dollars should actually be spent to make life more affordable for the American people. It's shocking to me that over a year has passed since Donald Trump was inaugurated. This guy promised to lower costs on day one. Costs haven't gone down, they've gone up. They're ripping healthcare away from the American people. And now, masked federal agents on American streets are killing American citizens in cold blood. That's all unacceptable. And we really need to make some changes to change direction here.
CHRIS JANSING: I understand, Leader Jeffries, that there are things you firmly believe, and I think many Democrats believe with you, believe should be done. But the real question, again, is what can be done? What are you willing to do? What can you do?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, as we've done in the past, we're going to make our case to the American people. There were a lot of folks who never believed that the Epstein files would be released in a way that would be forced by the Congress in a bipartisan way over the objection of Donald Trump. We passed legislation to be able to do that, forced Donald Trump to sign it. And now of course we've got to compel the Department of Justice to actually comply with a bipartisan law that was enacted. We passed a law in the House of Representatives, sent it over to the Senate to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years. Nobody thought that was possible, but all 213 Democrats joined by 17 Republicans were able to get that done. Abraham Lincoln once made the observation, 'public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.' And so our goal right now is to continue to make the case to the American people who know that the behavior of ICE and other law enforcement agencies within the Department of Homeland Security is immoral and it's illegal and it's not what they've signed up for. The Trump administration has gone way too far and public pressure can lead to decisive action in the Congress as we have seen over the last several months.
CHRIS JANSING: Some of that public pressure is coming from pulpits. Newark Cardinal Joseph Tobin is urging church members to tell lawmakers to vote against additional funding for immigration agencies. Here's what he said.
RECORDING OF CARDINAL TOBIN: If we are serious about putting our faith in action, we need to say no. How will you say no? In this week when an appropriations bill is going to be considered in Congress, will you contact your Congress Representative, your congressional Representatives, the Senators and Representative from your district? We ask them for the love of God and the love of human beings, which can't be separated. Vote against renewing funding for such a lawless organization.
CHRIS JANSING: Will you and your Caucus vote against it? Is this, as he's presenting it, a moral imperative as well as a political one?
LEADER JEFFRIES:Democrats strongly opposed the Homeland Security funding appropriation bill when it was before us in the House. And if it comes back to us without the necessary changes to rein in a lawless organization and actually protect the health, the safety and the well-being of the American people, we'll take the same position, and we've joined with our Senate colleagues in that way. It was a powerful statement by a highly distinguished member of the clergy, and we know that faith without works is dead. And we have faith that we can bring about a better society and make America the best version of herself as we move forward, pushing back against the corruption and extremism that's being unleashed by the Trump administration day after day after day. But it's going to take work. And it's actually all of us. It's elected officials, it's community-based organizations, it's the American people, civil rights organizations, certainly members of the clergy and the faith community, all banding together to address preventable tragedies that have occurred and ensure that they never happen again here in the United States of America.
CHRIS JANSING: Well, we heard him say that ICE is a lawless organization. And the death of Alex Pretti has changed a lot of people's minds. President Trump—last hour—was asked about the killing of Alex Pretti. I want to play exactly what he said.
RECORDING OF REPORTER: Do you believe that Alex Pretti's death was justified?
RECORDING OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, you know, we're doing a big investigation. I want to see the investigation. I'm going to be watching over it. I want a very honorable and honest investigation. I have to see it myself.
CHRIS JANSING: Do you believe there will be an honorable and thorough investigation? And what do you make of the President saying he is going to be watching over it?
LEADER JEFFRIES: There's no reason to believe that the Trump administration or Kristi Noem, which is why she needs to go, will be able to preside over a credible investigation. Do we think that the Trump Department of Injustice is going to actually conduct a credible investigation? These extremists and political hacks at the Department of Justice have been weaponizing the criminal justice system against Donald Trump's enemies. So what we need here is an independent investigation conducted by state and local authorities. And we'll continue to call upon every single officer who has broken the law as it relates to what ICE and other parts of the Department of Homeland Security have been doing. In Minneapolis and throughout the country, they should be criminally investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. That's consistent with who we are as a nation. Nobody's above the law. And ICE needs to conduct itself like every other law enforcement agency in the country. Focus on protecting the health, the safety and the well-being of the American people, not killing them.
CHRIS JANSING: I hear your frustration. I hear your pushback. But what good is anger and pushback if it's not coupled with clear action? For the people who are watching, not just Democrats, but Americans who are frustrated as you are by what they're seeing, what is the clear action you believe you, as a party, you, as the House and Senate Democrats, can take that isn't just words?
LEADER JEFFRIES: The clear action that's in front of us is already underway, right? It's legislative action. Listen, we have said that we are in a four-front battle. It's legislative, it's the appropriations process, it's legal and it's moral. And we've got to press our case in every single lane. But in terms of the legislative lane, where there are clearly changes that need to be made to the manner in which ICE conducts itself, legislatively, we're on that case, and we'll continue to press our case. In terms of the appropriations process, we are working with our Senate Democratic colleagues, under the leadership of Chuck Schumer, who has taken a strong position as it relates to what needs to happen before the Homeland Security appropriations bill passes. That's concrete action in the arena that we're in. And of course, we're working with Democratic Attorneys General across the country and state and local authorities to make sure that investigations occur, that the behavior that is illegal that we're seeing coming out of the Department of Homeland Security is challenged in federal courts, as is being done to make sure that everyone is held accountable. And we're going to continue to work with faith leaders, members of the clergy, civil rights organizations, democracy protection organizations to ensure that we are making the moral case to America that this has to end.
CHRIS JANSING: I think that you made some news in the beginning, too, about action, and that is to pursue impeachment against the DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. I wonder, and all of this is in the context, you can't ignore it, of the midterms. We're already hearing it in races, questions being asked and answered. How do you think this fight will go over heading into the midterms, especially for Members of your Caucus who are in those frontline tough seats?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Everyone's going to speak for themselves as it relates to making sure they're doing what they deem to be the right thing for the communities they are privileged to represent in the House of Representatives. What brings us together is going to continue to be our fight to make clear to the American people that you deserve better than the extremism that has been unleashed, the attacks on the economy, on healthcare, on law-abiding immigrant families, on the rule of law, on the American way of life itself, of course, on veterans and on farmers and on hardworking people who are just trying to survive in a country where the cost of living is completely and totally out of control. So we know the American people deserve better and we're going to deliver better. We're going to focus on driving down the high cost of living, focus on fixing our broken healthcare system and, of course, we're going to focus on dealing with the corruption that is rampant in Washington, DC. Deal with it in the Congress, deal with it at the Supreme Court and, of course, deal with it with respect to the President and his administration, the most corrupt administration in American history. Democrats are winning races all across the country. That has been the case since January of last year. And of course, we saw that decisively throughout the country during the off-year election last November in Virginia, in New Jersey, in New York, in California, in Pennsylvania, of course, in Georgia, where we won statewide races for the first time in 20 years, in Mississippi, where we broke their supermajority in the state Senate. The American people know that Democrats are fighting to make life better for them. And we're also fighting to push back against the extremism that Donald Trump and Republicans have unleashed on the American people.
CHRIS JANSING: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thank you.
Interview can be watched here.