RICKEY SMILEY: All right y'all, Rickey Smiley Morning Show. He's the man making history and is the first Black lawmaker to ever lead a major party in Congress. Y'all please welcome House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Good morning, good morning. Great to be with you.
RICKEY SMILEY: Hey, thank you—Man, thank you so much for coming on, especially during these trying times with a lot of stuff going on. Let's jump right into it. The United States is currently in the middle of a government shutdown and with the House notably out of session, what is your assessment of how this is impacting everyday Americans and what leverage does the House Democratic leadership have in this moment?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, thanks again for having me on, and this is a Trump-Republican shutdown, unfortunately. They made the decision that they would rather shut the government down than provide healthcare to working-class Americans, everyday Americans, Black and brown Americans and people who are struggling all throughout the country.You know, our view, as Democrats from the very beginning, in the House and the Senate, is that we want to find a bipartisan path to enacting a spending agreement that funds the government, but we want to make sure that that spending agreement actually makes life better for the American people, improves the quality of life of the American people as opposed to hurting the American people. And Republicans have just refused to sit down and even have a conversation because what we've seen from the very beginning of this presidency is a my-way-or-the-highway approach. And so, now the government has been shut down. We've got hundreds of thousands of hardworking federal employees, many from our community, who have either been furloughed or being forced to work without pay. And we know that a lot of folks are already struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. You know, airport safety, of course, is a concern. Food safety is a concern. The administration of benefits, like Social Security and Medicare and veterans benefits are all concerns, in terms of this government shutdown, if Republicans decide to continue it.
GEORGIA ALFREDAS: Yeah. It's insane. I just want to thank you for, you know, just standing up and really holding the other side of the aisle accountable. But let me ask you, how is it that we can give Argentina, we have the money, we have the funds to give Argentina billions of dollars, but we can't help Americans with basic health insurance? How does the other aisle not see that?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, that's a complete and total outrage. I'm so thankful that you raised that issue. So what the American people, what our community needs to understand is that the Trump administration has been running a massive pay-to-play scheme from the very beginning of his presidency. And this is just another example where they're going to bail out Argentina. They have found $20 billion to bail out this right-wing wannabe dictator in Argentina, who's a friend of Donald Trump and some of the financiers connected to the administration in Argentina that are going to benefit from the bailout are also close former associates to the Trump Treasury Secretary. Yet the Republicans don't seem to have any interest in spending a dime to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits which provide health insurance that's affordable for tens of millions of Americans, and because those tax credits are about to expire, we know people right now as we speak are receiving notices indicating that their premiums, their co-pays and deductibles are about to skyrocket. In some cases, people are going to be forced to pay thousands of dollars more per year for their health insurance. That's not affordable. Some people are gonna be facing medical bankruptcy. Other people are going to go without a doctor and yet the Trump administration to date has been unwilling to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits. We've said that's unacceptable and we're not going to support any partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the healthcare of the American people when we should be supporting the healthcare of the American people.
DA BRAT: Right, right. Oh my goodness, that is so unacceptable. Some former government officials are warning that democracy is being tested in America right now. Do you agree? And what do you think it will take to bring back trust in the system?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, I certainly agree that democracy is being tested and distrust in the system exists for a lot of reasons. One, I think the system has largely for decades now not been there to provide the type of support for everyday Americans and working-class Americans and people, certainly hardworking taxpayers in our community, that when you work hard and play by the rules, at the end of the day, you should be able to provide a comfortable living for yourself and for your family, or as I sometimes have said, live the good life. And that means good-paying job, good housing, good healthcare, good education for your children and a good retirement. And that's not—shouldn't be too difficult to achieve in this country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, but far too many folks are working hard and they're playing by the rules, but they can barely get by, let alone get ahead. So we need to make sure that as a country, and those of us who have the ability to work in government, that we're actually improving the quality of life of the American people, as opposed to what we're seeing from this administration, which is a government of the billionaires, by the billionaire, and for the billionaires. Now, at the same period of time, you're absolutely correct that the rule of law and democracy is under assault. We see Donald Trump and his administration, particularly, the sycophants in the Department of Justice—it's the Department of Injustice under this administration—go after people like my friend and a great public servant, Attorney General Tish James. We, of course, are going to stand strongly behind her. She's a brilliant, patriotic, hardworking, principled and ethical public servant. The charges against her will not survive. They have no basis in reality, but all of these things that we're seeing definitely are designed to erode the foundations of our democracy. I got to serve with the great John Lewis and he would always say to us that, you know, when you see injustice, when you see wrongdoing you've got to just be prepared to show up and stand up and speak up for what you know is right, get into necessary trouble or good trouble, as he would often say. And, you know, I think we're gonna work hard to do our part in the Congress. We're gonna push back aggressively against the administration and the extremism that they're unleashing on the American people, people in our community, in the courts. But ultimately, in a democracy, it's important for the people to rise up and make sure that their voices are heard in a peaceful but firm way.
ROCK-T: Say that again, my brother. Yes, indeed. Hey, stay right there. Don't go nowhere. We got to keep this conversation going on. We got more with Hakeem Jeffries coming up next on the Ricky Smiley Morning Show.
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RICKEY SMILEY: Now, the White House recently suggested new rules that could affect funding for colleges and HBCUs. How could that impact students and what can be done to make sure that the schools keep their independence?
LEADER JEFFRIES: You know, my parents are both HBCU graduates. They met at Central State in Ohio. That foundation that they provided is consistent with what millions of people, families, African American families have been able to experience. And so, we've got to keep that alive. And now, of course, as you indicated, that's being threatened in different ways. That's part of why we as Democrats have to continue to fight to make sure that when we reach a spending agreement here in Washington, that it actually is a spending agreement that provides the types of support for institutions that benefit the American people and that we hold the administration accountable for actually spending the money in ways that are consistent with congressional directives as opposed to what we've seen from this administration, which is they're just ignoring statutes and doing what they want. And that's part of what we have been making clear in the context of this shutdown situation, which is that Congress has the power of the purse, and when Congress decides how funding should be spent, then the money needs to be spent in that way. And the administration—there are no kings in this country, and I think we're going to have to just continue to hold firm as Democrats, and my promise to you all is that we will.
GEORGIA ALFREDAS: You know it's interesting because during his first presidency he bragged about how much money he was giving to HBCUs because he thought he needed HBCUs, but we digress. Journalists covering the Pentagon recently walked out in protest of new reporting rules. Even Fox. These rules could limit what they're allowed to publish without prior approval. What can Congress do to defend press freedoms and ensure transparency in national security matters?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, no. It's an incredibly troubling situation and this discussion illustrates is that we're in the midst of a national nightmare that has been visited upon the American people by Donald Trump and, you know, his so-called allies within the administration who basically are unqualified and just do what he wants them to do or what the more extreme people in his administration want them to do. And this is another example that they pretend to be tough, but they can't even take journalistic scrutiny. And that scrutiny from journalists are an important part of what this country is all about. Of course there's the Congress, there's the executive branch, there's the courts, but we refer to often, the media, as the Fourth Estate, as also critical to our democracy and getting information to the people as you all do in such a powerful way. And so, I'm thankful that the journalists decided by and large that they were going to walk out rather than sign some document designed to convert independent journalism into state TV and radio and print, right? Because that doesn't exist in the United States of America, but clearly they're trying to change direction. So, you know, Members of Congress, I think we're going to continue to strongly not simply speak out against it, but to explore what can be done legislatively to ensure that the First Amendment, which is an important part of the Constitution, continues to be vibrant and cannot be undermined by a rogue administration.
ROCK-T: All that. And Leader Jeffries, so despite all the gaslighting and the propaganda that's coming from this current administration, polls are showing that people are most worried about the cost of living, they're concerned about anxiety about the midterm election security and just overall division in the country that comes from all the gaslighting and the propaganda. So as the leader of the opposition party in Washington, what can you all do to help try to bring people back together again at some point?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah. Well, this country definitely needs leadership that brings people together as opposed to tearing folks apart, that moves the country forward as opposed to what we're seeing from these extremists, which is that they want to turn back the clock and erase our history and try to, you know, create a different version of America than the one that we all are working toward—not a perfect country, but America's always been on a march toward a more perfect union. And you're absolutely correct. The high cost of living is out of control. America's too expensive and Donald Trump and Republicans actually promised to lower costs on day one. But costs haven't gone down. Costs are going up. The Trump tariffs are making life more expensive. Grocery prices, out of control. Housing costs, out of control. Electricity bills skyrocketing. And now, because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, health insurance premiums are about to increase in ways that are going to make access to a doctor unaffordable for a lot of folks. And on top of that, because of their One Big Ugly Bill that Republicans passed a few months ago that hurt everyday Americans while rewarding their billionaire donors, they enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history and that's going to affect children all across the country and in our community where about 50% of Black children in this country get their health insurance from Medicaid. And so, you know, part of what we've made clear in the context of the moment that we find ourselves in is that yes, we want to reopen the government, yes, we want to make sure we stand up for hardworking federal employees, yes, we want to enact a spending agreement that actually improves the quality of life of the American people but we also have to decisively address the Republican healthcare crisis because it's hurting people and we're gonna work hard to continue to bring people together, to bring that American dream to life, to make sure in this country—you work hard, you play by the rules, you should be able to live the good life.
RICKEY SMILEY: Absolutely. We are watching and we are definitely are proud of you and we appreciate you. Ladies and gentlemen, Representative Jeffries. Thank you so much for taking time to give us a call this morning and we look forward to having you again soon. Alright, come on y'all, ladies and gentlemen, big round of applause.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you, all. Full interview can be found here. |