LIVE: Democratic Leader Jeffries holds press conference after new Epstein photos emerge

Democrats obviously pushed for the extension of these subsidies during the shutdown. You had a group of Democrats in the Senate who said, give us a vote on health care and we'll reopen the government. Still no solution. Where all of those tactics were? Donald Trump and Republicans controlled the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. They made the decision to shut the government down. Because they'd rather shut the government down than extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. That's not simply my perspective, that's the perspective of the American people who consistently have held Republicans responsible, correctly, for the government shutdown. So that's not a question for me to answer, that's a question for Republicans to answer. Why didn't they shut the government down? We've raised the issue of the Affordable Care Act tax credits, and by the way, the overwhelming majority of the American people are with us. That's not just Democrats and independents. Overwhelmingly, that's a majority of Republicans who believe that the Affordable Care Act tax credits should be extended. Five legislative days left before tens of millions of people experience dramatically increased health care premiums. Why have we still not seen a plan from Mike Johnson? He's been promising a health care plan for months. It's missing because their plan is to rip health care away from the American people. There's talk of allowing a floor vote on this Fitzpatrick-Swazey-Golden plan. Does that potentially give you guys an opening to get this done this year? Is there any hope here from that? We're all hands on deck to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, but Mike Johnson hasn't reached out to us as Democrats to have a conversation about finding a path forward, which suggests to me that Mike Johnson is not serious about protecting the health care of the American people. The Indiana Senate stopped President Donald Trump's redistricting push in the state. Given that development, are Democrats still full speed ahead on redistricting, or should you guys consider a more reserved approach right now? Donald Trump launched this unprecedented effort to gerrymander congressional maps all across the country as part of his scheme to rig the midterm elections. There were many skeptics and critics out there who argued that our efforts to take back the House was doomed because of some master plan that Donald Trump concocted that apparently as Democrats we were just supposed to unilaterally disarm, roll over and play dead, and allow Republicans to steal the midterm elections. We said from the very beginning that ain't happening, and now it's obvious to everyone, beginning of course with the dramatic actions taken initially by Texas Democrats to use every tool available to them to either block the Texas scheme to rip five seats away from us or elevate the issue so that the American people know across the country what Republicans are up to. And beginning in California, we have responded decisively. And the reality of the situation is that Republicans may have started this redistricting battle. We as Democrats plan to finish it. Thank you, Mr. Leader. The Trump administration earlier this week announced the settlement with some Republican-controlled states to effectively end the SAVE program, the repayment program that President Biden created during his administration. It will affect up to 7 million borrowers. You've been very critical of Republicans saying that they're exacerbating the affordability crisis, as you see it. Do you see the end of this program and what the Education Department is doing by announcing this proposed settlement as potentially hurting even more Americans who could be forced into less generous programs, have more trouble paying their student loans back? How do you see student loan debt within the context of the affordability crisis? Well, the Trump administration has launched an all-out assault on public education in America. They have destroyed the Department of Education in real time. And they're going after hardworking American students, including college students, who are just simply trying to experience the American dream, an American dream that is increasingly out of reach for far too many hardworking American taxpayers. And the American people know it. And the American people also know that Donald Trump's administration and Republican policies have been a complete and total disaster. That's why this guy is at, like, 36 percent in approval. They're losing elections all across the country, literally in deep red parts of the country, including most recently in Miami and in Georgia, where the Republicans lost a special election for a statehouse seat that Donald Trump had just won by more than 12 points. And so from our vantage point, listen, we want to work with anyone to find a common ground to actually solve the problems that the American people want us to solve. And that's lowering the high cost of living and fixing our broken health care system while cleaning up corruption at the same period of time, and the assault on all of the things that have been done, including trying to ease the debt burden that students across this country have confronted is irresponsible and is further evidence of the fact that Republicans never intended to keep their promise to lower costs on day one, because they haven't done a damn thing to make that happen. Leader Jeffries. Hello. Mr. Leader. Who's speaking? Mr. Leader, can I just ask, yesterday you voted present on this effort, on the motion to table the impeachment resolution against President Trump. A number of your Democratic colleagues did as well. Do you think that the president has committed impeachable offenses? We issued a statement on that motion to table, and that statement speaks for itself. Leader Jeffries, thank you very much. Eric Christine with The Independent. Just now the Oversight Committee released more photos and more documents from the Epstein files. We have seven legislative days until the Department of Justice. Why was it important to release those documents and those photos? And what else should happen if the Trump administration doesn't comply? What can Congress do if Congress doesn't comply with this, or the DOJ doesn't comply with this? Well, the so-called Department of Justice under the Trump administration needs to comply with the law. And we as Democrats, led by Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, are going to continue to make sure that we're holding this administration accountable. These people who are part of the Trump administration, including Donald Trump and J.D. Vance himself, all said for years that they wanted to release the Epstein files. Then they come into office and do the exact opposite. Obstruct and obfuscate, hide stuff from the American people. All we want is full transparency so that the American people can get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That's what the Epstein survivors deserve and have demanded. And we're going to make sure that the Department of Justice complies. Thanks, Leader Jeffries. You say that at least four Republicans are needed to cross the aisle to get health care done. Well, there are nearly a dozen Republicans who have signed on to the discharge petition for both the Pittspatrick bill and for the Gottheimer bill. Why not endorse one of them or both of them and encourage your members to sign on as well to get the ball rolling in that respect? We're actively reviewing those two discharge petitions, and we'll have more to say about it early next week. But what is clear, time is running out. Where were these Republican ideas over the last several months? You know what? They were so busy shutting the government down. Donald Trump's busy playing golf. They could find $40 billion to bail out their right-wing dictator friend in Argentina. They're pardoning people like George Santos and Rudolph Giuliani. And they're running around trying to promote their one big ugly bill, which enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. That's what got the ball rolling on the Republican health care crisis. And as a result, hospitals, nursing homes, and community-based health centers are closing all across the country, including in rural America. They ripped food assistance out of the mouths of hungry children, veterans and seniors. And they did all of that with great urgency so they could reward their billionaire donors with massive tax breaks. And they made those tax breaks permanent. And now at the 11th hour, they're scrambling. It still remains the case that the most direct path forward is a straightforward extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits. And there's one discharge petition that does that. And it has 214 signatures. And all we need are four Republicans to join us. Just to follow up on that, though, I understand that your ideal path is a clean extension. But Republicans have made clear that they will not go for a clean extension. So would you be willing to settle for something that's not a clean extension in the name of saving these subsidies? We're going to evaluate every single good-faith proposal. But it has to meaningfully provide certainty to the American people who are at risk of having their health care ripped away from them. These Republicans made those massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors permanent. And we've said from the very beginning, we just want to make sure that everyday Americans, middle-class Americans, working-class Americans have a similar level of certainty. That's not too much to ask for in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. Thank you, Leader Jeffries. Yesterday, President Trump signed the executive order on artificial intelligence seeking to block the states from regulating the AI. Specifically, and I want to ask you about specifics in this deal, it directs DOJ to create a litigation task force and challenge any state that they view doesn't comply with whatever the national standard is. It also gives powers to Secretary of Commerce to impose restrictions on state funding and also aims to regulate total output. First, what is your position on the EO? Should Americans be concerned that the AI policy is being set through executive order and litigation instead of open debate in the Congress? If this approach becomes a standard, what is going to stop any future president from using DOJ to go against and challenge any state law they want? And finally, is this EO about innovation or is it about expanding presidential powers? Well, Donald Trump has tried to conduct himself like a wannabe king from the very beginning. The American people are clearly rejecting that approach. And on artificial intelligence, this is a complicated thing. A transformative innovation that has the possibility of bringing great societal benefits, particularly in the areas of medicine and education as it relates to reaching young people who live in historically under-resourced parts of the country. But at the same period of time, it's our view that this transformative technology in the hands of bad actors presents risks of creating societal harm. And this is why a thoughtful approach is needed, not a my-way-the-highway executive order. And our view related to Donald Trump's most recent action connected to artificial intelligence is that he doesn't have the authority to do it. And ultimately, it's going to get struck down in court. Thank you, Mr. Leader. Some members of your party are calling for the abolition of ICE following the administration's very aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration. Is that a viewpoint that you believe has a place in your party right now as Democrats strive to take back power after midterms? Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has. Congresswoman Delia Ramirez has. Also, Patty Garcia, who is running to replace Chuy Garcia, Graham Plattner as well. They have said that this should not exist and it should cease. Yeah, I haven't had a conversation with any of those individuals about their perspective. What we do know is that the American people believe that Donald Trump's deportation efforts have been completely and totally out of control. Unacceptable and un-American. That's the reality of what Donald Trump has unleashed on law-abiding immigrant communities all across America. And the American people are rejecting it. This is why Donald Trump is also underwater in terms of public approval on immigration. Now, we believe, as Democrats broadly, that we need a strong and a secure border consistent with our history and experience as a nation anchored in the rule of law. Donald Trump doesn't believe in the rule of law. And neither do his sycophants who serve in Congress. We fail to understand that we're a separate and coequal branch of government, not a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trump cartel. Because that's how they behave. So we believe in the rule of law, and part of that is a strong border. But at the same period of time, we're a nation of immigrants. And so we're going to continue to defend DREAMers, defend farm workers, defend farm country, defend law-abiding immigrant families and communities across the country who are part of the ingredient of American exceptionalism. That's our position. And we do have a broken immigration system. Everybody thoughtful who's taken a look at it understands that. But the way to solve it is not a my-way-the-highway approach, and it certainly is not the Trump deportation machine. He promised that he was going to target violent felons. No one would have any issues with that. He's not deporting violent felons. He's deporting law-abiding immigrants, veterans who serve this country, children who are actually American citizens, grandmothers and grandfathers, gardeners, and communities across the country are rejecting it. Mr. Leader, as sort of a follow-up to that question, today Congressman Abe Hamaday is inviting families who've had family members killed by undocumented immigrants to the Capitol. Who is that? Abe Hamaday of Arizona. And I want to ask about 2026 and how you're encouraging border state Democrats to respond to messaging such as this, because it was a big issue in 2024, and it appears that some Republicans are ready to message on it in 2026. We'll let border state Democrats speak for themselves, and I've got great confidence in them. I think I just articulated our view on immigration generally, and that, I believe, is a position that's broadly held by Democrats all across the country. Listen, Republicans are desperate to try to find a path out of the electoral disaster that they're experiencing right now. This year has been a complete and total failure for the American people, and Republicans are on the run. The reason why this whole gerrymandering scheme was launched is because Republicans know that if a free and fair election were held, they're done in the House of Representatives. It was always a myth and a fantasy that some big mandate was attached to what happened in November of 2024 that we never bought into. Why? Because we're only three seats short. This is the closest majority that any party has had since the Great Depression, and it's all now falling apart. And everybody sees it, and they can't project this fake strength to the American people anymore, because they failed the American people on the economy, on health care, and the extremism that has been unleashed on the American people is completely and totally unacceptable. So our view generally, as Democrats, we're going to solve problems for everyday Americans, because we believe in this great country of ours, you work hard, you play by the rules, you should be able to live the good life. An affordable life, a comfortable life. Good paying job, good housing, good health care, good education for your children, and a good retirement. Which means to my Republican colleagues, keep your extreme hands off of Social Security and Medicare at all times. And far too many people in this country, wealthiest country in the history of the world, are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck, because there is an affordability crisis. It's not a scam, it's not a hoax, it's a crisis, and Democrats are committed to doing something about it. Republicans, continue to bury their heads in the sand. Thank you.