LIVE: Democratic Leader Holds Press Conference (Nov. 19.)

We're at the dining room table, and millions of Americans are going to experience sticker shock as they prepare for Thanksgiving. The Trump administration itself acknowledges that we're together at the dining room table. What's your honor, Brooks? Heads up. Morning, everyone. Morning. Next week, throughout America, families will be gathered together at the dining room table, and millions of Americans are going to experience sticker shock as they prepare for Thanksgiving. The Trump administration itself acknowledges that the cost of turkeys has gone up 40% since last November. Grocery costs are through the roof, housing costs out of control, electricity bills through the roof, and the Trump administration and Republicans here in Congress continue to refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. That means that tens of millions of Americans are about to experience dramatically increased premiums, copays, and deductibles. In some cases, health insurance costs are going to go up $1,000 or $2,000 per month. We have a cost-of-living crisis in the United States of America, and Donald Trump and Republicans haven't done a damn thing about it. In fact, costs aren't going down, costs are going up, all throughout America. And the Trump tariffs are costing everyday Americans thousands of dollars in additional expense per year. Now, House Republicans were on vacation for seven-plus weeks, a taxpayer-funded vacation, until they were forced to crawl back into town. We have a week of legislative session that began on Monday and will last until Friday. And House Republicans haven't brought a single bill to the floor that actually addresses the high cost of living in the United States of America. It's perplexing. What is wrong with these people? What did they not get from their shellacking two weeks ago across America, up and down the ballot, in state after state after state, where the American people have made clear, we don't support Republican extremism, Republicans have done nothing to make our life better, and we're thankful for Democrats for continuing to lean in to driving down the high cost of living. And now we're in the midst of this health care affordability fight. And Donald Trump's response to it is, let's repeal the Affordable Care Act. No credible plan to make- Eyes up. Morning, everyone. Next week, throughout America, families will be gathered together at the dining room table, and millions of Americans are going to experience sticker shock as they prepare for Thanksgiving. The Trump administration itself acknowledges that the cost of turkeys has gone up 40% since last November. Grocery costs are through the roof, housing costs out of control, electricity bills through the roof, and the Trump administration and Republicans here in Congress continue to refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. That means that tens of millions of Americans are about to experience dramatically increased premiums, copays, and deductibles. In some cases, health insurance costs are going to go up $1,000 or $2,000 per month. We have a cost of living crisis in the United States of America, and Donald Trump and Republicans haven't done a damn thing about it. In fact, costs aren't going down, costs are going up, all throughout America. And the Trump tariffs are costing everyday Americans thousands of dollars in additional expense per year. Now, House Republicans were on vacation for seven-plus weeks, a taxpayer-funded vacation, until they were forced to crawl back into town. We have a week of legislative session that began on Monday and will last until Friday. And House Republicans haven't brought a single bill to the floor that actually addresses the high cost of living in the United States of America. It's perplexing. What is wrong with these people? What did they not get from their shellacking two weeks ago, all across America, up and down the ballot? In state after state after state, where the American people have made clear, we don't support Republican extremism. Republicans have done nothing to make our life better. And we're thankful for Democrats for continuing to lean in to driving down the high cost of living. And now we're in the midst of this healthcare affordability fight. And Donald Trump's response to it is, let's repeal the Affordable Care Act. No credible plan to make healthcare more affordable for the American people. Donald Trump's plan, adopted by House Republicans, is let's repeal the Affordable Care Act. And we're going to continue to refuse to extend tax credits that make healthcare more affordable for working-class Americans, middle-class Americans, and everyday Americans. House Democrats are going to continue to stand on the side of the American people. Our fight will be to continue to lower the high cost of living, to address the Republican healthcare crisis, fix our broken healthcare system, extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, and actually do things that are designed to make life more affordable for the American people. During the very high-profile Michael Cohen hearing, Stacey Plaskett was in direct communication with Jeffrey Epstein. And this was after he pleaded guilty to sex crimes, after the Miami Herald investigation into all these heinous acts. So why, as a Democratic leader, why are you okay with that? I expressed my position on the floor yesterday. My statement speaks for itself. In a bipartisan way, a bipartisan way, the resolution that was introduced targeting Stacey Plaskett was defeated. And it was defeated for several reasons, including the fact that it was a dramatic overreach related to throwing her off her committee. But what about her actions, her actions? If you're going to ask a question, you've got to let me answer. Democrats and Republicans defeated the census. Stacey Plaskett has made clear her position as it relates to Jeffrey Epstein repeatedly, and her words speak for itself. She said, quick, I'm next, I'm up next. Thank you, Leader. Now, following up on that, should Plaskett be sent to ethics, and should there be an ethics investigation? There was a vote on that yesterday. My vote speaks for itself. Republicans decided not to go down that road. Have you met with MBS yet? And if so, what was discussed? And if not yet, will you be? I was part of the bipartisan meeting hosted by the Speaker this morning. I asked the Crown Prince about his views relative to a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian people. And his views as it relates to the importance of a two-state solution. The Crown Prince reiterated his view that a one-state solution in Israel is impractical. And that the best path forward, of course, involving the reconstruction of Gaza, is to eventually find a robust path toward a safe and secure Israel, living side-by-side in peace and prosperity with a Palestinian state. I support that position. I think we'll continue to stand by the special relationship between our two countries. It's incredibly important. The Crown Prince reiterated what he has said publicly, his commitment toward finding that path forward. And was Jamal Khashoggi mentioned at all in his murder? Wasn't mentioned in the conversations that I was a part of throughout the meeting. Leader Schumer told reporters yesterday that he consented to adding the Senate phone records provision that the House will vote on tonight to repeal. He said that he wants to make sure that at least Democratic senators were protected from Bondi and others who might go after them later on. Were you previously aware of Schumer's consent? And what's your reaction to it, given your opposition to the provision? No, and I haven't had the conversation with Leader Schumer. What I can tell you is that during the rules committee that House Republicans had last week, they expressed their outrage. Republicans expressed their outrage at this Republican senatorial slush fund that was put into the spending agreement that they all voted for. Notwithstanding the outrage that eight Republican senators have basically built into law a slush fund that will give those senators millions of taxpayer dollars. A special treatment for United States senators in the Republican party. Part of the bill that they all voted for last week. Now, later on today, we're going to be voting on legislation to remove that Senate slush fund that benefits eight Republican senators. But apparently there's no agreement between Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune that the Senate Republicans will take up that provision. Which reinforces the point that everything that House Republicans do is for show. It's not serious. It's not designed to get an end result. And that's why Republicans are suffering all across the country. Why the American people, the overwhelming majority of the American people know that the country is moving in the wrong direction. That the economy is broken. That the Republican control of the House, the Senate, and the presidency has been a disaster for the American people. Because everything House Republicans do is for show. They can't even get a commitment from Senate Republicans to take up legislation to remove this multimillion dollar taxpayer funded slush fund to benefit corrupt Republicans in the Senate. It's time for the House to start to actually do things that matter for the American people in the middle of a cost of living crisis. That's devastating hard working American taxpayers all across the country. But Republicans throughout this week have shown zero interest in making life better for everyday Americans. They continue to be all about the wealthy, the well-off, and their well-connected GOP donors. Thank you. On the Affordable Care Act, Democrats obviously say you want an extension of the tax credits. The President says he won't sign that. Senate and House Republicans are talking about various other alternatives. Is there a potential for compromise here? And if so, where does that originate from? Because it seems like the parties are talking past each other. We're in the middle of open enrollment right now. So tens of millions of people all throughout the country realize that their health insurance premiums are skyrocketing because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. And during the Trump-Republican shutdown, we repeatedly indicated that we want to work together in good faith with the other side of the aisle to address the Republican health care crisis. And Leader Schumer even offered a very reasonable proposal, which is a one-year extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits and then a bipartisan commission to discuss fixing our broken health care system moving forward that Republicans continue to devastate. And Republicans refuse to take yes for an answer. And so at this moment in time, the House Democratic position is very clear, very simple, very easy, very straightforward. A three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits before they expire on December 31st of this year. If Republicans refuse to act, the American people will understand why their health insurance premiums are through the roof and why tens of millions of Americans will no longer be able to go see a doctor when they need them. Leader Jeffries. Thank you so much, Leader Jeffries. House Oversight Chairman Comer said yesterday on the floor that you had Jeffrey Epstein over for dinner and took money from him back in 2013. This was after he was on the sex offender list. Any comment on that? And will you be holding members accountable regardless of party affiliation if there were any misdeeds related to the Epstein? Was that a serious question or a serious statement from malignant clown James Comer that I had Jeffrey Epstein over for dinner? That I accepted money from Jeffrey Epstein? What's extraordinary to me about the clown show on the other side of the aisle is that they lie with impunity on things that are objectively verifiable. And why do they do that? It's because for months Republicans have been burying the Jeffrey Epstein files. Not Democrats. Our view continues to be the same. We want to make sure that what the survivors have asked for, which is full and complete transparency in order to bring about accountability, actually happens. And Congress decisively and in a bipartisan way acted yesterday with respect to the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. That's a victory for the survivors and a victory for the American people. And Donald Trump needs to sign that bill into law expeditiously. Some Republicans have implied that there's been a backdoor deal made for those Republican votes yesterday on the Plaskett censure in return for not bringing up a Corey Mills censure. Do you have any response to that and was there a backdoor deal made there? What Republicans have suggested? Annapoli Luna, Mace, a couple other women Republicans. The only thing that I can say is that Democrats are not going to unilaterally disarm. And there's a long list of Republicans worthy of censure. A long list of Republicans. Not enough time in the legislative calendar if Republicans want to go down this road of censuring members or throwing them off committees. A couple of months ago you had done an event downstairs with Jared Golden to promote a discharge petition on restoring some collective bargaining rights for federal workers. That discharge petition hit 218 on Monday. I'm just wondering what happens now. Do you anticipate that that will be called up? Will there be a vote on that bill in December? Senator Johnson is required, pursuant to the discharge petition, to set in motion an up or down vote on restoring collective bargaining for hard-working federal employees. And that's a bipartisan discharge petition that will trigger that vote. So we know the votes exist in the House of Representatives. But this is another example of Republicans attacking hard-working American taxpayers, working families, members of organized labor, everyday Americans and middle-class Americans who benefit from union involvement and union participation and collective bargaining against powerful interests across the country. The House Republican majority has been a complete and total failure. They have failed the American people. Life has not gotten better. Despite all of their promises to lower the cost of living on day one, costs have not gone down. Costs have gone up. And the American people know it's because of failed Republican policies. Thank you, Leader Jeffries. Throughout shutdown, you really emerged on national stage, and President Trump didn't hold back his attacks. I know this may sound perhaps counterintuitive, but did it give you perhaps more confidence that he sees you as a strong opponent, the one who can move the political needle? And do you consider presidential run 2028? Well, I appreciate you suggesting that throughout the shutdown I emerged on national stage. I think my mother has done a good job of circulating talking points in that regard. But this fight was always about the American people and putting the American people first. And we're going to continue to lean into that fight, to lower the high cost of living, to fix our broken health care system, and to clean up corruption. In the Congress, that is going to start with making sure we prohibit stock trading by members of the United States Congress. And, of course, we've got to deal with corruption within the Supreme Court and in the administration, the most corrupt administration in American history. Our focus on the non-governmental side will continue to be taking back control of the United States House of Representatives. Because that's the most significant thing that can be done to begin the process of ending this national nightmare that has been visited on the American people by Donald Trump and Republicans. And Democrats are going to take back control of the House of Representatives. And we're going to do so decisively. This whole notion, it was always a fantasy. Some people bought into it. This whole notion that Republicans were going to be able to gerrymander their way into rigging the midterm elections, and Democrats in the House were just going to unilaterally disarm, roll over, and play dead, was a fantasy. And I told that to Mike Johnson months ago, directly. This is not going to end well for you. I told that directly to Mike Johnson, early, when it was suggested that Texas was going to move aggressively. Because they must have us confused. We recognize the urgency of the moment. And in state after state, we will continue to decisively and forcefully respond, as we've done. In Texas, in California, we're doing it now, in Missouri, on the ground, in Virginia, in Illinois, in Maryland, litigation in New York, pushing back against their efforts in red states throughout the country, and of course, with a decisive legal victory in Utah. So our focus is on making life better for the American people, stopping this Donald Trump-inspired effort to gerrymander the national congressional map in order to rig the midterm elections. They started this redistricting fight. We will end it. And that's the reality that extreme-magnet Republicans are confronting right now. That being said, just to follow up on that, though, in light of the Texas ruling yesterday, do you worry at some point some of your counter-efforts could also be invalidated? The Texas congressional map that was racially gerrymandered in violation of the law was declared to be unconstitutional in an opinion written by a judge appointed by Donald Trump who centered that opinion on the corruption and the incompetence and the clear racial motivation of the Department of Injustice. That's the reality of that decision in Texas. It was as clear as day that Donald Trump and Republicans violated the 14th and the 15th amendments of the United States Constitution. And then they jammed that gerrymandered map down the throat to the people of the great state of Texas. In the dead of night, in California, it was a democratic process that ultimately was presented to the voters in the form of Proposition 50. And I'm thankful for the leadership of Governor Newsom. The congressional delegation in California did a tremendous job with respect to the leadership that we saw from everyone, Nancy Pelosi, Pete Aguilar, Zoe Lofgren, incredible job, but everyone in the delegation and of course working with our partners in the state legislature. They intentionally leaned into a democratic process that also ensured there was strict compliance with both the Voting Rights Act as well as the 14th and 15th amendments to the United States Constitution. Very different process. And so the litigation that has been filed or at least threatened by the Department of Injustice against the California map is frivolous. And by the way, these people in the Department of Justice are both corrupt and incompetent. So much so that they detonated their own gerrymandering efforts. In Texas. And because Texas has fallen, these people are now in full panic mode because they've set in motion a process that is not going to work out well for them in the end. Thank you, Mr. Leader. You said just a moment ago that there is a long list of Republicans worthy of censure. Nancy Mace is going to be offering a privileged motion to censure Corey Mills later today. How do you plan to vote on that resolution? And will Democratic leadership be whipping your caucus for this vote? We haven't had a conversation about the resolution because we haven't seen the resolution, so I'll have to take a look at it. President Trump has been posting on social media recently about healthcare, specifically saying that the only healthcare he will support is sending money directly back to the people. Has anyone from the White House or Republican Party approached you or anyone else in the Democratic Party about a specific plan? No, there hasn't been a single bit of outreach from Donald Trump or the White House about confronting the Republican healthcare crisis because they're not serious about it. It's not even clear to me that Donald Trump understands how the Affordable Care Act tax credits operate because hard-working American taxpayers currently have the option to either utilize the tax credits on a monthly basis to lower their health insurance premiums significantly or take the tax credits in connection to the filing of their taxes at some point on or before April 15th. The money can already go directly to the taxpayer. So Donald Trump has zero idea of what he's talking about. This is all fantasy. It's all political theater from Donald Trump. He's got no interest in making healthcare more affordable for the American people. And by the way, this is the same group of folks, House Republicans, who have literally tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act more than 70 different times over the last 15 years. This is the reason why in public opinion survey, after public opinion survey, before the Trump shutdown, during the Trump shutdown, and after the Trump shutdown, the American people overwhelmingly trust Democrats to deal with fixing our broken healthcare system. Thank you. Just to clarify and a follow-up question on the James Comer accusations. Are you saying that your fundraisers never solicited money from Jeffrey Epstein in exchange for a meet and greet? Because he's saying that there's emails proving that... I have no idea what James Comer is talking about in terms of anything that any prior consultant may have said. I have no idea about that either. But James Comer apparently made the representation on the floor of the House that I sat down with. Jeffrey Epstein had dinner with Jeffrey Epstein. I have contributions from Jeffrey Epstein. He's a stone-cold liar. And James Comer knows it. This is all part of an effort to try to deflect from their failures as a House majority to deal with the issues of importance to everyday Americans and, of course, to the fact that Republicans have been running a pedophile protection program for the last several months. Until the survivors, partnering with a handful of courageous Republicans led by Representative Massey, partnering with Representative Conner, and House Democrats, forced Donald Trump, forced Mike Johnson, and forced the Republicans to capitulate so that the American people could have the transparency that they deserve. And just a quick follow-up. Do you regret that Stacey Plaskett did what she did? And is that something that you would tell other Democrats not to do in the future? I think that Stacey Plaskett has spoken extensively on this issue. And I'll let her words speak for themselves. Thank you. Following up on ACA, I know you mentioned your position, your discharge petition for the three-year extension. But what about something like the Kevin Kiley-Sam Liccardo, the bipartisan bill that does... It's a two-year extension. It's a three-year extension. Is that something that leadership could get behind? Yeah, the House Democratic position right now, supported by the overwhelming majority of House Democrats, is a three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits. Now, Republicans have repeatedly been given the opportunity to take yes for an answer and to address this healthcare crisis that they've created, which includes but is not limited to the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. That's what they did in that one big, ugly bill. And as a result of what Republicans have done, hospitals, nursing homes, and community-based health centers are closing all across the country, including in rural America. This is devastating everyday Americans. In that same period of time, Republicans set in motion a possible cut to Medicare. They're going after the Centers for Disease Control, $1.7 billion cut to the CDC. That will be the largest cut in American history in this appropriations process. That's what Republicans are trying to do. They also want to enact the largest cut, about $500 million, to the National Institute of Health. That will be the largest cut in American history. And on top of all of that, Republicans continue to refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. Jeopardizing the health and well-being of tens of millions of Americans. Mike Johnson has said he's got no interest in dealing with this issue. There's no urgency. We're back this week, full-time. He's done nothing. No bills, no discussion, no outreach. Why? Because Republicans aren't interested in making life better for everyday Americans. Republicans, like they did in their one big, ugly bill, largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripped $186 billion in SNAP funding from hungry children, seniors, and veterans. And why did they do all of that? To provide massive tax breaks to their billionaire donors, which they made permanent. But now Republicans can't even find a dime or the time of day to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for tens of millions of working-class Americans. Shame on them. Thank you. I appreciate you just sitting there. They should pay you double. Thank you. Everybody. Everybody? It's all right. Hey, everybody! Does he not like you? Or does he just like to blow you off to stiff? He does this sometimes. He wouldn't take my question. He goes, hey, do you read your network? And I was like, okay. But he still comes to you. But it could also be yesterday or Monday, I can't remember. I followed him outside and I got questions and look-ins. Oh, okay. I like hogged it. You had a question on Monday, didn't you? Yeah. I was looking and it was like you have to watch. Literally. It's like listening to Facebook. I'm actually making some very trouble. What's that about? YouTube. Ten minutes. I've got a movie I've never seen. It's a movie. Oh. I don't know why I'm doing this. But I like it. I mean it was great. You were working on it, right? Of course, of course. I feel that. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.