LEADER JEFFRIES ON NBC: "THE LAST THING WE NEED IS A MAN-MADE, REPUBLICAN-GENERATED DEFAULT CRISIS"
MINNEAPOLIS – Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries joined Meet the Press with Chuck Todd where he emphasized that House Democrats are committed to ensuring America pays its bills, while extreme MAGA Republicans attempt to hold our economy hostage.
TODD: Well, let's start with this meeting you're going to have with the group of four congressional leaders and the president. It'll include Speaker McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Schumer and the Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and yourself. I guess we should call these talks, not negotiations. Are- is anything on the table? Is this a negotiation?
JEFFRIES: Well, it's a very important discussion. I'm thankful that President Biden has called us together. We need to do two things. One, we have to make sure that America pays its bills to avoid a dangerous default on our debt in a manner that will blow up the United States economy, likely trigger a job-killing recession, cost us millions of good-paying jobs, crash the stock market, which, of course will adversely impact the retirement security of millions of Americans and it will dramatically raise costs for almost everyone. That has to be avoided. And the one way to do that is to make sure that we raise the debt ceiling in a manner consistent with what has been done more than 100 times under Democratic presidents and Republican presidents. At the same time, Chuck, President Biden has continued to make clear that we can have a discussion about the right balance of spending, investments and revenues to make life better for everyday Americans to impact, in a favorable way, the health, the safety and the economic well-being of the American people.
TODD: So do you, do you accept the premise that you're not going to get a clean debt ceiling hike?
JEFFRIES: I do not, because we have a constitutional responsibility to make sure that we protect the full faith and credit of the United States of America. Everyday Americans understand this principle. If you have a bill, you need to pay it. If you fail to pay it, it's going to adversely impact your credit rating. Your credit score will drop. If your credit score drops, your costs are going to go up. And if America defaults on our bills, that's exactly what is going to happen and everyone is going to pay the price. And so, I accept the premise that the only responsible thing to do is to do what Democrats did in the previous administration, where we helped President Trump raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default three different times, notwithstanding the fact that in our 247-year history, 25% of America's debt was acquired during the Trump administration. And yet, we avoided a default without gamesmanship, without showmanship, without partisanship. That's what the extreme MAGA Republicans should do this time around.
TODD: I understand what you want them to do, but as you know, the Republicans don't accept that premise. You have almost every Senate Republican, 43 of them, saying that they're not going to raise the debt ceiling without some sort of quid pro quo on cuts or something like that. You've got independent groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, including the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which is normally a pretty nonpartisan group. They have said, hey, look, Republicans have done their job. You may not like the bill the House passed, but they did do something. What- shouldn't Democrats respond with a counterproposal?
JEFFRIES: Well, President Biden has consistently made clear and in fact, he introduced his budget two months ago, and it is a budget that will invest and protect in Social Security. It's going to try to strengthen the economy in a way that builds an economy that works for everyday Americans, an economy from the middle out and the ground up, not the top down. And President Biden's budget will also cut the deficit by $3 trillion. We've been waiting for months for the Republicans to articulate their position. They didn't produce a budget. What they did was produce a ransom note. That is what the Default on America Act is and, effectively, what they're saying to the American people is that either you accept these dramatic cuts, cuts to Medicaid spending for disabled children and for elderly Americans, cuts to law enforcement, cuts to education, cuts to health care, cuts to nutrition assistance for food-insecure Americans, more than 30 million people throughout the country. Either Republicans want us to accept these dramatic cuts or accept a catastrophic default on our nation's debt. That is what is the unreasonable position, and hopefully in a few days Republicans will come to their senses and do what's right by the American people.
TODD: Is the obvious solution here a short-term punt? And it looks like this, you essentially raise the debt ceiling through September 30th and make the debt ceiling and the budget deadlines converge. Doesn't that give everybody what they want? You didn't negotiate cuts directly for the raising of the debt ceiling and they're- you do give- the Republicans get their budget negotiations with the budget. Isn't that the uncomfortable compromise that is the best way forward here?
JEFFRIES: Well, I don't think the responsible thing to do is to kick the can down the road when President Biden has been saying for months, the position of Leader Schumer, the position of House Democrats has been: we have to avoid a default, America should pay its bills, protect the full faith and credit of the United States of America. But we, of course, are open to having a discussion about what type of investments, what type of spending, what type of revenues are appropriate in order to protect the health, the safety and the economic well-being of the American people. That's a process that is available to us right now. I don't think we need to delay those discussions for a few months.
TODD: I understand that. But are you ruling it out? I mean, if that's the way out of this, no one's saying, look, there are better ways out of a lot of problems. The question is, if it avoids default, is this a way out?
JEFFRIES: Well, we have to avoid default, period. Full stop. I think what's in front of us right now is that President Biden has convened a very important discussion on Tuesday so we can find a way forward to do what is necessary to continue to strengthen our economy in a manner that benefits everyday Americans.
TODD: Let me ask it this way. Are you following President Biden's lead here? That if President Biden and Speaker McCarthy come up with some sort of handshake in some form here, are congressional Democrats going to support the president's position?
JEFFRIES: Well, we're in lockstep right now in terms of the path forward that President Biden laid out. Ultimately, everyone evaluates on the merits any particular piece of legislation that is presented to us. But we are in lockstep with President Biden. We're in lockstep with Senate Democrats. We want to do the right thing for the American people. And that means paying our bills and simultaneously having this discussion about the future and what spending can look like anchored in President Biden's budget proposal.
TODD: I want to ask you a couple other questions on some things that are happening this week. The Title 42 is going to end this week. Do you believe the administration is prepared for what's coming to the border?
JEFFRIES: I do believe the administration is prepared. I know Secretary Mayorkas was down at the border this week. Steps are being taken to make sure that there is order at the border, but that it should be done in a way that is consistent with two principles. One, the rule of law. But two, our history as a compassionate nation, as a nation of immigrants. And I think that the administration is preparing in an all hands on deck way to make sure that when we move beyond this Title 42 moment, that we're in position to absorb what takes place. At the same time, we need to begin to have a real bipartisan discussion on comprehensive immigration reform. And I hope that my Republican colleagues will come to the table to have those discussions.
TODD: I know you have confidence in the plan, a lot of border Democrats do not. Mark Kelly, "I don't have a high level of confidence," Ruben Gallego, "I have heard repeated concerns about a lack of information." Kyrsten Sinema, who I know is not a Democrat anymore but caucuses with them, "Despite our repeated calls, the administration failed to prepare a working plan for the end of Title 42." Let me ask you this, in the next couple of weeks, if this doesn't look like it's working, would you be in favor of reinstating Title 42 powers? There's a bill in the Senate that might do that. Is that something that if this doesn't work you'd be open to?
JEFFRIES: No, I think that's a premature discussion. I think we have to deal with the situation that is in front of us right now and support the administration's efforts to make sure that there are resources at the border to deal with a post-Title 42 environment and to do it in a way, as I mentioned, consistent with both the rule of law – we want order at the border – at the same time, doing it in a compassionate way and in a way that is consistent with who we are, our values as a nation.
TODD: And one final straight up political question. There's a new Washington Post-ABC poll out this morning, and it has a startling divide on the economy between former President Trump and current President Biden. You just made a robust case that President Biden has been a good steward for the economy. The country, here in this poll, a majority believe former President Trump did a better job of handling the economy at 54% than President Biden does right now at 36. Why do you think the public perception of the president's handling of the economy is so poor compared to the numbers you were citing?
JEFFRIES: Well, that's one poll. And I've seen other public opinion surveys that have indicated that there's a closer approximation between the actual reality of the incredible job that President Biden has done with respect to the economy. Record low unemployment, more than 12 million good-paying jobs have been created. He reduced the deficit by $1.7 trillion during President Biden's first two years. That's a record for a similar period of time in American history for any president. But of course, President Biden recognizes that more needs to be done to continue to build out an economy that benefits everyday Americans coming out of COVID and an inflationary environment. I think when it's all said and done and President Biden is on the campaign trail able to make his case against the extreme MAGA Republicans who are extreme on reproductive freedom, extreme on democracy, extreme on Social Security and Medicare, extreme in their unwillingness to deal with the gun violence epidemic and crisis, extreme on pretty much every issue out there. I believe that the American people will see fit to re-elect President Biden and re-elect him comfortably.
TODD: House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries from Brooklyn, New York. Appreciate you coming on and sharing your perspective with us, sir. Good to see you.
JEFFRIES: Thank you, Chuck.
Full interview can be watched here.