LIVE: House Democratic Leader Jeffries Holds Press Briefing (Oct. 17)

Morning everyone. This is day 17 of the Trump Republican shutdown and the House and Senate Democratic position remains the same. We look forward to sitting down with anyone, anytime, anyplace either here at the Capitol or back at the White House to reopen the government to enact a spending agreement that actually makes life better for the American people while also addressing decisively the Republican health care crisis that continues to hurt everyday Americans all across the country. Every day that goes by there are people throughout America receiving notices that their health care premiums, co-pays and deductibles are about to skyrocket. In the district in upstate New York, the north country, currently represented by Elise Stefanik, there are couples who currently pay about two thousand dollars per year for their health insurance premiums because they benefit from affordable care act tax credits. When those credits go away that same couple will now pay more than twenty thousand dollars a year. They cannot afford that. These are working class Americans living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to get by, can barely survive, yet alone thrive in this country and this is the wealthiest country in the history of the world. So House and Senate Democrats are going to continue to hold firm as it relates to a basic common sense position that when we enact spending bills we should be helping the American people, not hurting them. And so we will not support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the health care of the American people. But we will continue to extend that offer to our Republican colleagues and to President Trump and members of his administration. Let's sit down in good faith to reopen the government, to stand by our hard-working federal employees. So enact a spending bill that actually improves the quality of life of the American people and to address the health care crisis that Republicans have created, devastating people all across the country, including in rural America, in black and brown communities all throughout America, in urban America, in the heartland of America, and in small-town America. Questions? We have a caucus meeting later on today. I think that's going to be one of the issues that we'll discuss. All options are on the table with respect to Representative Adelita Grijalva. It's shameful that she has not been sworn in because Speaker Johnson and House Republicans apparently want to continue to hide the Jeffrey Epstein files from the American people. This has gone on now for weeks. And so it's my expectation that if she is not sworn in today, during the pro forma session today, as the Arizona attorney general has made clear, expect swift and decisive legal action. I have not heard back from the Speaker yet, but House Republicans and Senate Republicans have gone radio silent since the Oval Office meeting that took place about three weeks ago because they have no defensible position. Their position is we want to continue to benefit the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected and promote the lifestyles of the rich and shameless. That's the Republican position. That's what they did with their one big ugly bill, largest cut to Medicaid in American history, devastating people across the country, ripping food from the mouths of children. And they did all of that so they could reward their billionaire donors with massive permanent tax breaks. And now with the Affordable Care Act tax credits expiring, they have zero interest in spending a dime to help out working class Americans. By the way, same group of people that found $20 billion, matched by another $20 billion, that the American taxpayers will be on the hook for $40 billion in total to bail out Argentina, and they can't find a dime to protect the health care of the American people. This is extraordinary stuff. And no word from the Speaker about any of it, because they just continue, unfortunately, to be rubber stamps for Donald Trump's extreme agenda. Leader Jeffries, food banks are preparing for a surge in federal worker checks, and millions of Americans continue to lose out on food assistance. So at what rate does this shutdown become too limited to continue these health care debates? Well, we need to reopen the government, and we need to reopen the government now. Part of the problem is that House Republicans are nowhere to be found, literally have been on vacation for three consecutive weeks, have canceled votes for three consecutive weeks. They are in the Legislative Witness Protection Program. No one can find them here in the Capitol, and no one can find them in their districts. They're not holding town hall meetings. They're not visiting federal employees. They're not engaging with their constituents. They've been on vacation for three weeks, in the middle of a shutdown. And so what we need is for them to come back to work, so we can work this out, reopen the government, stand by our hardworking federal employees. By the way, the Trump administration, this year, before the shutdown, has forced out over 200,000 civil servants. That's before the shutdown. So they've already been targeting viciously and maliciously federal civil servants, undermining the ability to provide services to taxpayers in an effective and an efficient way. And so cruelty has been the point for this administration. We know this because the OMB director said his goal was to traumatize federal workers and thereby traumatize the American people. That's their words. We've not gotten any information specifically from the Speaker or from House Republican leadership, although it is a matter of deep concern. We've already seen a rise in political violence and hatred in America. And then you've got swastikas apparently appearing in the offices of Republican members of Congress. You've got young Republicans engaging in the most anti-Semitic and racist speech possible. Like, this is apparently who many of these people are. They are ripping the sheets off in plain view of the American people. Their words, their actions revealing themselves in so many different ways. And then you've got Caroline Leavitt, who's sick. She's out of control. And I'm not sure whether she's just demented, ignorant, stone-cold liar, or all of the above. But the notion that an official White House spokesperson would say that the Democratic Party consists of terrorists, violent criminals, and undocumented immigrants, this makes no sense. That this is what the American people are getting from the Trump administration in the middle of a shutdown. So their actions continue to speak for themselves, which is why they're on the wrong side of public safety. Yeah, I haven't gotten a chance to review it. I do expect to speak to the Democratic nominee, Govon, at some point before early voting. We're going to continue to stand up for the American people. Cancel the cuts, lower the costs, save healthcare. We've made that position very clear from the beginning. And we're not moving. We're not going to bend. We're not going to break, because it's the healthcare of the American people that's at stake. And all of these efforts to try to intimidate Democratic members of the House and the Senate are not going to work, because we are on the side of the American people. And much of the action that the Trump administration is taking, of course, is unlawful and illegal. As a federal judge in Northern California found, with respect to the dismissals of about 4,000 or so federal employees, that was found to be unlawful. And so these threats to try to back us off our position, it's not working, and it's not going to happen, because there is a Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating the American people. And we're going to continue to stand up for everyday Americans. Well, I haven't finalized my schedule for the weekend, given the sensitivities around the government shutdown. And I'm still very hopeful that Republicans will decide to show up for work so we can get the government back open. But I support the right of every single American to participate in the rallies that are going to take place this week. And showing up to express dissent against an out-of-control administration, that's as American as motherhood, baseball, and apple pie. That's the First Amendment. And the notion that this unhinged White House spokesperson would suggest that that's hateful, that's not hateful. What's hateful is what happened on January 6th. That was a Hate America rally, sponsored by Donald Trump and his sycophants, who incited a violent mob to storm the Capitol. That's what hate looks like. What you'll see this weekend is what patriotism looks like. People showing up to express opposition to the extremism that Donald Trump has been unleashing on the American people and Donald Trump's failures, the Republican failure to keep their core promise. Because you know what their core promise was last year? They were going to lower the high cost of living. They haven't lowered the high cost of living. Costs haven't gone down on day one as they promised. They lied to the American people. Costs have gone up. Inflation has gone up. Grocery prices out of control. Housing costs out of control. Electricity bills skyrocketing. And now, because Republicans refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for working class Americans, middle class Americans, and everyday Americans, health insurance premiums are about to blow through the roof, bankrupt people, and prevent them from being able to see a doctor when they need one. Thank you, everyone.