LIVE: House Democratic Leadership Hold Weekly News Conference (Nov. 19)

One, two, three. Good job. Good afternoon, everyone. Earlier today, the House Democratic Caucus under the leadership of Chairman Pete Aguilar convened so that we could begin the process of organizing in preparation for the 119th Congress. It's an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to continue to serve in the position as House Democratic leader and to work with this extraordinary group of public servants who the caucus has entrusted to make sure that in the next Congress we can continue the fight for everyday Americans and push back against any effort and extremism that we see from the House Republican Conference or from the incoming administration. Now, we have made clear repeatedly as House Democrats we are prepared to work with the incoming administration to find bipartisan common ground on any issue, whenever and wherever possible, in order to make life better for hardworking American families and taxpayers and to solve problems on behalf of the American people. That's our job. We look forward to working hard on the issues that the American people have made clear coming out of this election matter to them, like lowering the high cost of living. We are prepared to work hard to find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues and the incoming administration on any issue, whenever and wherever possible, but at the same period of time, we will push back against far-right extremism whenever necessary. We will protect the things that the American people have made clear matter to them, protect Social Security, protect Medicare, protect the Affordable Care Act, protect the progress that has been made in the context of the climate crisis, protect our veterans, and protect a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive health care decisions. We look forward to the 119th Congress. There's a lot of work ahead to be done as House Democrats. We will continue to do everything we can, each and every day, each and every week, each and every month, to make life more affordable for the American people, to address the fact decisively that far too many Americans are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck, struggling to get by, and struggling to get ahead. We're hopeful that the incoming administration is prepared to join us in that effort to truly make the American dream available and accessible to everyone. It's now my honor to yield to my good friend, my classmate, my colleague, and amazing leader in the House Democratic Caucus, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark. Thank you so much, Mr. Leader. I am profoundly grateful for the trust and confidence of my colleagues, and especially grateful to get to work with this leadership team led by Hakeem Jeffries, who continues to pull our caucus together and to lead with the American people at the center of everything he does. We are so grateful to you, Mr. Leader, for all your partnership and the values and inspiration that you bring to our caucus. House Democrats, we stand united in a single mission, building an America where every single person has a fair shot. No matter what district we represent, blue, purple, red, we see that the cost of living is pushing the American dream out of reach for so many. Families that I heard from traveling across the country talk about the high cost of rent. It's not only difficult to meet, but puts home ownership out of reach. Parents who are going into debt, simply trying to pay for childcare. Seniors who are watching their hard-earned retirements slip out of their hands. It shouldn't be so darn hard to get by in our country. House Democrats stand ready to enact solutions to meet these challenges. We will continue, as the leader set forth, to look for opportunities to work across the aisle. We will work with anyone of any party who is serious about creating an economy that works for working people. But if the idea is that they are going to cut Medicare and Social Security, our education system and public schools, that they are going to take food programs away from hungry children in order to give corporations an even bigger tax break, they're going to have a fight on their hands from House Democrats. It's simple and it's true. We stand with working families. We believe in building an economy that brings everyone along, not in rigging it for a few and certainly not by scapegoating a few. We stand for what Barbara Jordan called an America as good as its promise. That's our promise to the American people. I am so grateful to be ready to work and be led by our Chairman of the Democratic Caucus, Pete Aguilar. I want to thank Whip Clark and Leader Jeffries, Vice Chair Liu, Assistant Democratic Leader Neguse, DPCC Chair Debbie Dingell, DPCC Co-Chairs Lori Trahan, Maxwell Frost, the newest member, and Lauren Underwood, and Caucus Leadership Representative Robert Garcia as well. We are clear-eyed about the challenges that lie ahead in the 119th Congress, but we are ready to fight for everyday Americans. Our focus remains tackling the affordability crisis in housing, child care, and the grocery store. Our caucus has already led the people's house despite being in the minority, and we will do it again. We were able to govern so effectively because of our unity, and it will be that same unity that helps us prioritize the needs of working people in the face of Republican overreach. We're going to stand up to any effort that would cut Social Security, Medicare, throw people off their health insurance, and we will never stop fighting to restore women's reproductive freedom. Reasonable Republicans who want to get things done and will have to tune out the extremists in their own conference will need to work with us in order to make the House function. This is a role that we've played before, and it's a role that we are willing to work at. It is my pleasure to introduce the Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, Ted Luke. Hello. It is such an honor to work with our entire caucus, and the energy and enthusiasm experiences they bring really provide a lot of support for our entire leadership team, and it's a privilege to be able to work with Leader Jeffries, Webb-Clark, Chair Aguilar, and our entire team. We're doing listening sessions, and we're going to listen to our caucus members. We're going to listen to our constituents. We're going to listen to the American people, and they want to chart a path forward. While we're doing that, I have two observations. The first is there are no permanent political victors in a country as large and diverse as America. There is no party that has any mandate for any extended period of time, and I note that in 2004, George Bush had a trifecta, and you may have remembered that back then Republicans ran on an anti-gay marriage platform. Two years later, Democrats flipped the House. Four years later, President Obama had a trifecta. More recently, in 2016, Donald Trump came in with a trifecta. Two years later, Democrats flipped the House. Four years later, President Biden had a trifecta. We're going to certainly see what the American people are saying. We're going to respond. We're going to chart a path forward. We do know one thing the American people are saying is that inflation is top of mind for many Americans. We urge that the incoming administration not do things to make inflation worse. Tariffs are going to make inflation worse. The people that pay for tariffs are the American consumer. That is how it works. If you increase tariffs on any product, that product will go up in price. Not only are Democrats going to listen to the American people, we urge our colleagues across the aisle to also listen to what the American people are saying. Now it's my great honor to recognize and bring up Assistant Leader Joe Neguse. Joe and I served on the DPCC under Joe's leadership and other DPCC members who helped stem the red wave during the midterms. Joe has done an amazing job as a leader doing a host of new programs for a caucus. He's crisscrossed country and helped our caucus members. It's my honor to now bring up Assistant Leader Joe Neguse. Good morning. Thank you all for being here. Thank you to our vice chair for that kind introduction. It's a privilege to be able to serve on this House Democratic leadership team with such a talented and focused and determined group of leaders. Of course, our vice chair, Chairman Aguilar, with Clark, and Leader Jeffries. Focused, as we always have been, on addressing the priorities of the American people. Lowering costs, growing the middle class, building safer communities, undergirded by our shared values, and fighting for the priorities that matter to the people that we represent. Those of you who followed the 118th Congress closely know that it was a particularly dysfunctional one. If past is prologue, I think the American people can expect perhaps more of the same. They can also count on House Democrats to do what we've done over the course of this Congress, led by our incredible Democratic leader, Leader Jeffries, to stand in the breach, to deliver results for the American people. As he often says, standing against extremism whenever possible, extending the hand of partnership wherever possible, defending our fundamental freedoms each and every day of the week. That is our charge. That is our cause. As Chairman Aguilar said, we remain clear-eyed about the work that is required of House Democrats in the coming months and in the 119th Congress. Of course, a big part and component of that work will be sharing and uplifting the stories of House Democrats, who each come from different walks of life in every corner of our country, with the American people. There is no one positioned to do that better than the chairwoman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, Debbie Dingell, with the help of the three co-chairs. With that, I introduce Chairwoman Debbie Dingell. Thank you, Joe. I want to tell everyone how great it is to be here and how proud I am to serve with Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Catherine Clark, Pete Aguilar, Ted Lieu, Joe Neguse, and my co-chairs. Lauren Underwood is the most seasoned of the co-chairs. Lori Trahan was elected earlier this year. The latest, we can't wait, is Maxwell, who is the first Gen Z. We have a DPCC team that is here ready to support this team of people that you see behind us. Hakeem is our leader, with the support of all of us. We know we've got a lot of work to do. The job of the DPCC is to ensure that House Democrats are unified in their message, and that it reaches every corner, every demographic, every place in this country. We've got to do a better job. Some of you have heard me talk about this before. In the aftermath of this month's election, this caucus has got to be in a listening mode two ways. Leadership has begun a series of listening sessions with the members. DPCC will have that institutionalized. That is regular. We've got to listen to our constituents. We as a team are going to make sure that members are going to meet their constituents where they are, in those farmers markets, union halls, veteran halls, schools. I could go on because Saturday is their 14th event for me. We've got to ensure that the American people know that House Democrats are listening to them, that we understand their issues, and that we are the ones that are fighting for them, delivering for them, and are protecting them, that they're getting the facts. We've got to help address the misinformation that's out there. Finally, we've got to make sure that we're reaching people on places we haven't been. We're going to be reaching out on those podcasts, meeting with the influentials. Lauren's been trying hard to modernize all of us with the digital media. We're going to make sure every member has the tools from young to seasoned. There are no old members in this caucus. It's really an honor. We've got a great team. I think I'm turning it back to our leader, Akeem Jeffries. Thank you so much, Chair Dingell. Thank you to all of the extraordinary members of the incoming House Democratic leadership team. Let me also acknowledge Robert Garcia, who was just elected as caucus leadership representative, representing now a majority of the caucus who will serve in Congress five terms and under. I congratulate you, Robert, and we look forward to working together. Certainly, to Maxwell, who is the newest, youngest member of the House Democratic caucus leadership team, people might reasonably ask the question, does he meet the constitutional age requirement? Yes, he does, barely. We're so thankful for Maxwell and his incredible leadership and the perspective that he will bring to the House Democratic caucus, the Congress, and, of course, the country. Questions? I have not. Well, we look forward to working together whenever and wherever possible on the critically important issue of border security. I'll also yield to our chair, Pete Aguilar, who may have some additional thoughts in this area. We have a broken criminal justice system and broken immigration system, I should say, as well. Obviously, we need to secure our border. We need a safe, a strong, a secure border, a humane border. We should secure the border in a bipartisan way that meets the needs of the American people, that right-sizes our immigration system, and that ensures we can enact the type of comprehensive immigration reform that allows for legal pathways towards citizenship, which the American people support, but at the same period of time, addresses the challenges that we've clearly seen on the southern border. We will lean into the issue and are hopeful that we can find bipartisan common ground. Pete Aguilar? Thank you, Leader. Democrats on this stage and Democrats within our caucus ran and many won on the issue of border security. Tom Suozzi has talked about this issue at length. I think of members like Gabe Vasquez, who talked about this issue at length, border members who discussed this, frontline members, members in tough seats, had this conversation with their voters and overwhelmingly came back to Congress and are here. We're not shying away from any issue. As the Leader said, we will work with anyone, anywhere to enact meaningful solutions that help people. Now, I don't think that the American public signed up for having military dollars be spent on a private force to run around cities and to break up families or to pull people from their homes. I don't think that's what this election was about. But the incoming administration has some thoughts on that, and we will respond when there is more information. But the American people have spoken, and we carry that forward, that we want safe communities. We understand that. We respect that. We want to fix our broken immigration system. We have supported policies and efforts to do just that. We've also supported bipartisan solutions that the President and House Republicans have continually beaten back in order to score political points rather than to solve the issue. So if there is common ground, we will seek to find it. But we will also call attention and call out the extreme nature of some of the proposals that the incoming administration has also advocated. Thank you, We're going to fully evaluate some of the congressional testimony that has been received, some of the information that is forthcoming. We obviously need FEMA to be an effective and efficient and equitable organization to meet the needs of the American people, particularly as we continue to suffer through extreme weather events and the natural disasters and catastrophes that have been experienced all across the country. We have a disaster supplemental appropriations bill that also has been sent up that we need to consider and take up so that we can first and foremost meet the needs of the American people, who are dealing with the aftermath of these extreme weather events, have had their life turned upside down. We've got to address that issue while ensuring, of course, as we move forward, that we have the best, most effective FEMA possible. The safety of the FEMA workers, of course, has got to be paramount. And it's a substantial consideration for us to make sure that that safety is protected moving forward. Right there. Yeah. Yes. We certainly will continue to protect nutritional assistance for Americans all across the country. That's in urban America, rural America, ex-urban America, the heartland of America, and small-town America. That will be a priority for us, as has always been the case moving forward. In terms of the so-called lame duck session, there are three high-priority items that we hope we can get to over the next several weeks. First, of course, we need to make sure that we keep the government open, that we fund the government in a manner that meets the needs of the American people in terms of their health, their safety, and their economic well-being. And we should do so before December 20th in a manner consistent with the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act that Democrats and Republicans supported last year. Second, we have to pass the National Defense Authorization Act. And we should do so, as has been the case for decades, in a bipartisan manner, free of extreme right-wing policy riders. Third, it's our hope that we can find the common ground necessary in order to reauthorize the Farm Bill in a manner that meets the needs of everyday Americans, of farmers, particularly family-owned farmers, and that meets the needs of the health and food safety of the American people. Let me yield to Catherine Clark on that issue, who's done an extraordinarily amazing job as our whip in this narrow Congress. And despite the claims of some of my Republican colleagues, who have spent a lot of time over the last two weeks talking about some big, massive mandate, I'm looking for it. That doesn't mean that we don't have to make adjustments to make sure that we can get beyond fighting House Republicans with a national wave on top of us to a draw. But the question about this notion of some mandate to make massive, far-right, extreme policy changes, it doesn't exist. It doesn't exist. And so in the new Congress, for anything to happen, particularly as it relates to an enlightened spending agreement, or ensuring that America does not default on our debt and crash the economy and hurt everyday Americans for the first time in our nation's history, it's clear House Republicans cannot do it on their own. We're not off to a great start on this new governing minority, a majority that they have, that's going to continue to be very close when the first question of this press conference has nothing to do with how we have security at our borders, how we make sure that every American has a fair shot, how we make sure that we have a budget by the end of the year. As we look out into the debt ceiling, how do we ensure we do not take our economy and the global economy off the cliff? What are they talking about there on day one is where one member out of 435, she is going to use the bathroom, that is their focus. So this is not a great start for how we start to turn the focus to the American people. It is where the House Democratic Caucus lives. This is our purpose. We understand that we are the closest connection to the people. And that is exactly where our work is going to be. And you've seen it demonstrated over the last two years that we met their chaos, their division, their scapegoating, they're creating issues that are not important. The American people say, mind your own business about where people do their business. But what they do want you to talk about is making an economy that works for them, affordable housing, child care that people can access. These are the issues that we will continue to push. This is the governing role that this caucus has taken on, because the GOP has remained mired in their own chaos and division. As Catherine Clark indicated, the notion that this incoming small House Republican conference majority is beginning to transition to the new Congress by bullying a member of Congress. This is what we're doing. This is the lesson that you've drawn from the election in November. This is your priority, that you want to bully a member of Congress, as opposed to welcoming her to join this body so that all of us can work together to get things done and deliver real results for the American people. I think it causes you to have to ask the question, what was all the rhetoric about over the last several months on the campaign trail? Did you lie to the American people? Are you really focused on solving problems for the American people? Are you really focused on lowering costs, addressing the high cost of living? Are you really focused on housing prices? Apparently not. Are you really focused on grocery prices? Apparently not. Are you focused as Republicans on building a healthy economy? Apparently you are not. We will not hesitate to call that out every time they lean into their far right extremism and ignore the things that the American people want us, as members of Congress, to focus on together. Last question. Let me yield to two of our colleagues, Vice Chair Liu and Assistant Leader Neguse, and then I'll close us out. We're going to fight and make sure that everyone's due process rights are respected. I just note that up to November 5th, Democrats were warning about Project 2025, and the incoming president kept saying, oh, no, no, I have nothing to do with that. Well, you're watching Project 2025 being implemented. And so Democrats, we're telling the truth, we're going to continue to tell the truth, and we're going to make sure that all employees have their rights respected. I share the sentiments of the Vice Chair. We are the Article 1 branch of government, a co-equal branch of government. We still have a constitution. I don't know that I can find any constitutional statutory basis for deleting agencies, as you described it. So House Democrats will remain clear-eyed about doing what needs to be done to protect the American people. And of course, that includes the wide variety of services that so many Americans rely upon every day. House Democrats are going to protect our institutions, protect our values, protect the norms that have made America the greatest country in the history of the world and the greatest democracy in the history of the world. Thank you.