House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries press conference

More than 18 months into Donald Trump's presidential term, the verdict is clear. Donald Trump and House Republicans have failed the American people. Costs haven't gone down in the United States of America. Costs have gone up. ICE is completely and totally out of control, spending billions of taxpayer dollars to brutalize and kill American citizens and to violently target law-abiding immigrants. Trump tariffs have cost the American people thousands of dollars per year in additional expense. Republicans have enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, and as a result, hospitals, nursing homes, and community-based health centers all across the country, particularly in rural America, are on the brink of closure. Republicans have refused to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, putting in jeopardy the health insurance of more than 20 million Americans, and causing premiums to skyrocket, in some instances, more than $1,000 in additional expense per month. Donald Trump and Republicans have launched a reckless war of choice in the Middle East that hasn't made America safer, but that has resulted in the tragic death of 18 brave service members. Hundreds more have been seriously injured, including confronting the possibility of traumatic brain injury for the rest of their lives. More than $100 billion in taxpayer money has been wasted by Donald Trump over in the Middle East, a war that he promised never to get us into. And yet, one of the main things that has changed as a result of that reckless and costly war of choice, Operation Epic Failure, is that gas prices have dramatically increased and are now north of $4.18 per gallon across the country. Donald Trump and Republicans have failed the American people, which is why they clearly are on the run and are on the verge of losing control of the House of Representatives. In many instances, Republicans have already lost control of the floor of the House of Representatives, as Democrats just demonstrated once again by successfully passing a War Powers Resolution as part of our continuing effort to bring Donald Trump's reckless war of choice in the Middle East to a close. House Democrats are fighting for an affordable America, and as we return home to our districts all across the country, we will make clear to the American people that our promise to them is to lower the cost of groceries, gas, and housing. Our promise to the American people is that we will fight for affordable health care for every single American, and our promise to the American people is that we will hold the crooks accountable. If you're a crook in the United States of America and you've been stealing from the American people, we're coming after you so we can deliver a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. We don't have to recalibrate our message. We've been opposed to Donald Trump's reckless and costly war of choice in the Middle East from the very beginning, and what's clear now is that the overwhelming majority of the American people reject this war, understand it was completely and totally unnecessary, that Donald Trump promised not to start forever wars, but to stop them, and instead turned around and in the Middle East has done the exact opposite. So we're going to continue, as we've done once again forcefully on the floor today, to make clear that this Trump-Republican war in Iran needs to come to an end immediately. I have complete and total confidence in Susan Del Bene, her leadership of the DCCC, and as a result of that leadership, I'm confident we're going to take back control of the House of Representatives in November. Hold on, hold on, hold on. It's never been the only factor. It's always been a factor. Seniority is really experience. Experience should translate into whether you've been able to deliver effectively in leading the committee, and the caucus is going to work its will as we move forward. At the end of the day, we can't put the cart before the horse. We've got to still go out and win this thing in November, and we're going to do everything possible to do just that. We have great candidates all across the country. DCCC once again just announced second quarter we out-raised the Republican National Campaign Committee. House Majority PAC has had a record-breaking six months in the on-year on top of a record-breaking off-year, and clearly the environment has repeatedly demonstrated by public opinion survey after public opinion survey, most recently from Fox News, all point in the same direction, but we're not taking anything for granted. We're going to keep our foot on the gas pedal, run through the finish line to try to do what has to be done for the American people, and then if we're in a position to organize heading into the majority in the 120th Congress next year, then that's what we'll do. I haven't talked to him about this issue. He's been very vocal on the issue. I continue to maintain the position that, one, we've got to figure out how to move things in a better direction in the Middle East, and for me, that means a safe and secure Israel as a Jewish and democratic state living side by side in peace and prosperity with an independent Palestinian state that provides dignity, self-determination, and respect for the Palestinian people. Congress is ultimately going to have to legislate in this area with respect to artificial intelligence generally. We want to make sure, obviously, that America can continue to lead in the race to innovate in this space while at the same period of time ensuring that we are vigilantly protecting the quality of life of the American people. Under the leadership of Ted Lieu, Josh Gottheimer, and Valerie Fouché, we have been engaging with stakeholders all across the country to be prepared to actually legislate in a serious way moving forward on all of these issues because Donald Trump and the Republicans have dropped the ball. It doesn't seem to be working if you actually look at the reaction of the American people in terms of who is on the verge of taking back control of the House of Representatives. These people are desperate. They're flailing all over the place because Republicans have failed to deliver a single thing that makes life better for the American people. In fact, what they've consistently delivered is breaking promises. That's what the Republican track record shows. That's why they're in deep trouble in so many ways. Republicans promised to lower the high cost of living on day one. Costs haven't gone down. They've gone up. Republicans promised that immigration enforcement in this country was going to target the worst of the worst. Instead, ICE is spending billions of dollars of taxpayer money to brutalize or kill American citizens and to violently target law-abiding immigrant families. Republicans promised to love and cherish Medicaid and then turned around and enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripping health care away from more than 14 million Americans. Republicans promised not to start endless wars in the Middle East but to stop them and then turned around and got us involved in this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran and gas prices are skyrocketing out of control in an economy that is suffocating and drowning the American people. And so I haven't really followed all of the hyperbole that's come out of Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise and others because I don't think the American people are taking it seriously. And it's certainly the case that the extraordinary candidates that are running in districts all across America, including Kate Conley in New York, Rebecca Bennett in New Jersey, Diana Mendoza in Arizona, three extraordinary patriotic brave women, combat veterans, can't be painted as anti-American. And the Republicans know it, but everything else that they've tried up until this point has failed and this effort to label us as communists is going to fail as well. View remains the same in terms of arriving at a spending agreement in September. We're not down with the my way or the highway Republican approach that has gotten them nowhere and I don't know why they continue to go back to that playbook. Even John Thune has said with respect to the Republican continuing resolution related to the upcoming fiscal year that that spending bill is dead on arrival in the Senate. Chuck Schumer didn't say that exclusively, John Thune did. So Mike Johnson, House Republicans, they're not even on the same page with members of their own party. The my way or the highway Republican approach will continue to crash and burn. It will fail. And so our view is the appropriators should sit down, led by Rosa DeLauro on our side, and enter into a bipartisan conversation about reaching an agreement that is actually designed to meet the needs of the American people. And if that can't be done in advance of September 30th, then we should enter into a bipartisan continuing resolution that gives the appropriators the space to actually enact a spending bill at some point prior to the end of this calendar year that lifts up the health, the safety, and the economic well-being of the American people. Well, I'm thankful for all of the work that's been done by the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. On Sunday, we will be launching an effort connected to our commitment to fight for an affordable America and have 100 days of action beginning this Sunday, July 26th, making clear to the American people that we're focused on lowering the cost of groceries and gas and housing. We're committed to a country that provides affordable health care for every American. And we also are committed as Democrats to hold the crooks accountable.