LEADER JEFFRIES: "THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO JUSTIFICATION FOR DONALD TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS TO WITHHOLD SNAP"

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MSNBC's The Briefing with Jen Psaki, where he emphasized that Republicans need to negotiate a bipartisan spending agreement that reopens the government and protects Americans' healthcare. 

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JEN PSAKI: Let me start by, I just kind of tried to outline what the impact would be if SNAP benefits are cut off. And we certainly look like we're heading for that. We'll see what the judge rules, of course, tonight. I want to start by asking you about the human impact. I showed some video of a long line at a food bank out in Arizona, in Phoenix, Arizona. There are lines like that all across the country. I know you're hearing from Members or paying attention to districts. What—help people understand what the human impact is right now, what you're anticipating.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, it's extraordinary that Donald Trump and Republicans are threatening to cut off SNAP benefits to 42 million Americans, including 16 million children, 8 million seniors and over a million veterans. And every single one of those individuals represents a real-life impact, people who would otherwise struggle to put food on the table in the absence of these SNAP benefits. And there's absolutely no justification for Donald Trump and the Republicans to withhold SNAP. They have more than $5 billion in an emergency fund that will allow these benefits to continue through the end of November. They can also find funds for other things just as they've repeatedly done, but they can't do it for SNAP, so that's extraordinary. It shows where their priorities are. And Mike Johnson actually said the quiet part out loud earlier today when he indicated that we're willing to starve, meaning Republicans, Republicans are willing to starve children and seniors and women and veterans and American families in order to put pressure on Democrats to continue Republican efforts to gut healthcare of everyday Americans. We're not going to do it.

JEN PSAKI: We just played that clip, and it's exactly as you said. He's basically saying we're using it as a bargaining chip. We're using people who will not have enough food next week, potentially, as a bargaining chip. One of the things that struck me is that hunger has never been a partisan issue. I mean, this program has never been shut down before, since it was started in 1939. And now you have the Trump administration making a legal argument that they cannot use funding from other funds, which they can. There's also $23 billion they could use that they use for WIC, right? That they're making a legal argument, which feels to me almost kind of immoral. But how do you—how are you digesting that, the legal argument they're making, given the human impact here?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, it's incredible that they would suggest that there are legal obstacles to doing anything when the Trump administration has been completely and totally out of control. But when it comes to actually meeting the needs of the American people, who might otherwise go hungry, the Trump administration all of a sudden believes that they don't have the authority to do something that Congress has clearly given them the authority to do. But these are extremists who are willing to actually starve their own folks. One of the five states that would be most impacted if SNAP benefits are cut off is Louisiana, the home state of both Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, but they could care less. After all, these are individuals who led the effort to pass the One Big Ugly Bill that enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, which is part of the reason why we have this healthcare crisis. But in that bill, they also cut $186 billion from SNAP, the largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history, which is one of the reasons why this hunger issue is not going away. And we're going to have to grapple with it as part of reversing these Republican policies that are doing great damage to everyday Americans.

JEN PSAKI: We're waiting for this judge's ruling, and she seemed to indicate that she thinks their argument is absurd. Do you have a good understanding, if she rules that they have to move forward with it, what the implementation of that could look like? Could that be implemented before November 1, or it wouldn't be that quick?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, it absolutely should be implemented by November 1 because the money is available, and it's just a question of the administration doing what the law requires it to do. In other words, the extraordinary action is Donald Trump and Republicans stopping the benefits from flowing to millions of people all across the country. And so we look forward to the judge's ruling. She's correct. The arguments being articulated by the Trump administration are absolutely absurd. But that's been the case from the very beginning. They cannot defend their position. They cannot defend their refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which is going to result in tens of millions of people experiencing dramatically increased healthcare premiums. The Republicans are now claiming, well, that's actually not the case. But as you pointed out, Jen, the reality is people from across the country are getting notices right now indicating that their premiums may go up by $1,000 or $2,000 per month. These are working-class individuals. They cannot afford these increases. That's why Democrats are fighting on their behalf.

JEN PSAKI: I wanted to play—I don't know if you've seen this. You probably did. I know you pay attention. But I wanted to play one more thing Mike Johnson said today, because I would just remind people, I mean, he has been on TV a fair amount, but he has not brought his caucus back. You've had a brief conversation with him, but you haven't had negotiations with him. Normally, the Speaker of the House is working around the clock, but let me play this. We'll talk about it on the other side.

RECORDING OF SPEAKER JOHNSON: People keep commenting to me, you look so tired on TV. I am so tired because we're not sleeping a lot. We're working overtime.

JEN PSAKI: I want to know what he's working on exactly. I understand he's been on TV. He has not answered questions on a lot of news issues. But what is making him so tired?

LEADER JEFFRIES: That's a great question. Republicans have actually been on vacation for five consecutive weeks. Mike Johnson and Republicans have canceled votes week after week after week after week after week. They clearly aren't doing anything. There are no hearings. No legislation is being voted on. Nothing is being debated. And all we see is this parade, this malignant clown show that they keep rolling out day after day, when Mike Johnson and Republicans are appearing before cameras, lying repeatedly to the American people.

JEN PSAKI: Trump is now back from his trip to Asia, claiming victory. Who knows why. But he's now back. It seems that Mike Johnson and John Thune are not going to do anything unless Trump tells them to do something. Do you think any negotiations can start unless he's in the room? Does he need to be in the room for them? Or how does this happen from here?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, Donald Trump either needs to be in the room or he just needs to give Mike Johnson and John Thune the green light to actually sit down and do their jobs. But until they get, you know, a yes from the puppet master that they can sit and have a conversation with Democrats, unfortunately, nothing is happening. And that's why Leader Schumer and myself have maintained from the very beginning that Donald Trump needs to get engaged and focus on solving problems for the American people, as opposed to trying to enrich himself, destroying the White House and somehow finding $40 billion to reward his billionaire buddies on Wall Street and bail out this right-wing wannabe dictator in Argentina, but can't find a dime to make healthcare affordable for the America people or ensure that folks don't go hungry.

JEN PSAKI: Would you—and we saw what happened last time, and would you and Leader Schumer go back to the White House if he invited you back there to negotiate?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, I think Leader Schumer and I have to have that conversation, but we've said repeatedly we're willing to sit down with anyone, anytime, anyplace, because we want to reopen the government. We want to enact a bipartisan spending agreement. But it actually has to be an agreement that makes life better for the American people. And we need to decisively address the Republican healthcare crisis. And clearly, the only way for that to happen will be for us to engage with Donald Trump and his administration, because at this point, Senate Republicans and House Republicans are useless.

JEN PSAKI: There was a report today—I mentioned this, too—about polling that was presented in the caucus meeting today. Trump seems like somebody—he's a lot of things, but somebody who responds to political polling. Do you think that is what this is gonna take for him, to kind of move him? And what do he wish you would know about how the public is digesting this from just even a political standpoint?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, you know, Abraham Lincoln once famously said, 'Public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.' And so, public sentiment clearly recognizes that Donald Trump and Republicans are responsible for shutting the government down, refuse to open it back up because they are unwilling to make healthcare affordable for millions of Americans. And now they are threatening to visit hunger on millions more, including children, in rural America, urban America, small town America, the heartland of America and Black and brown communities throughout America. At some point, I think it's going to become clear. Maybe they'll wake up on Tuesday when the voters send a message that they don't like the direction that things are going under complete Republican control of government in America, and that they need to either get with the program or they will be thrown out of office.

JEN PSAKI: Johnson has now set another record for refusing to swear in a Member of Congress. It's now been 37 days. I'm sure you're counting and well aware.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah.

JEN PSAKI: How have you thought about the precedent this could set and what kind of trouble he could cause around the midterms or any other special elections?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, it's a terrible precedent in this instance, because now I think it's been five weeks or so that Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva has not been sworn in. It's clear that Johnson doesn't want to bring Republicans back because they'll be at each other's throats. They have no plan. Marjorie Taylor Greene has asked Johnson, where's the healthcare plan? Clearly, it's nowhere to be found. These are extremists who have voted more than 70 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and now they're under pressure to renew the Affordable Care Act tax credits, but they're unwilling to do so because they are extremists. And of course, Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva would represent the 218th signature on a petition that will force an up-or-down vote on the Epstein files. And Mike Johnson is doing his boss's bidding, Donald Trump, who clearly wants no part of the American people to see the Epstein files released. And so, we're going to continue to put the pressure on House Republicans every single day until Representative-elect Grijalva is sworn in as a duly elected Member of Congress, as should have been the case weeks ago. And we're going to continue to keep the pressure on the Republicans to make sure they actually are serving the American people, and in this instance, that's going to require lowering the high cost of living, partner with us to do that, and fix our broken healthcare system to address—and by addressing the Republican healthcare crisis. 

JEN PSAKI: Sounds like very reasonable things that the majority of the public would like their elected officials to do. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thank you so much for joining us.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you.

JEN PSAKI: Hope you get back safely tomorrow.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you.

Full interview can be watched here.