On Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) held a press briefing.
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00:00From the beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have made clear that we will work with anyone in order to make life better for the American people, particularly as it relates to building an affordable economy and addressing the high cost of living in the United States of America.
00:23Unfortunately, from the very beginning, the Trump administration and House Republicans have chosen a different path.
00:33The far-right extremists continue to crash the economy in real time, have failed to address the high cost of living, and are driving America toward a painful recession.
00:48The first 100 days of the Trump administration have been characterized by chaos, cruelty, and corruption.
00:59America is better than this.
01:02We should be able to do better for the American people.
01:08The Trump administration has failed, and Republicans in Congress are behaving like a useless rubber stamp and allowing extremism to hurt the American people.
01:29Now is a moment of truth.
01:33Will a handful of House Republicans step up on behalf of the American people and prevent the largest Medicaid cut in American history?
01:45Will House Republicans stand up for the veterans of America?
01:49Will House Republicans stand up and stop this effort to take food out of the mouths of children in the United States of America?
02:03Now is a time to choose.
02:08Republicans have been on the run, but they can no longer hide.
02:13And House Democrats are going to make clear over the next few weeks what's at stake with this reckless Republican effort to jam their extreme budget down the throats of the American people.
02:30Questions?
02:33Thank you, Leader.
02:34Congressman Henry Cuellar suggested recently that House Democrats made a mistake rallying around the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who the Trump administration has accused of being a member of MS-13.
02:46What is your reaction to the congressman's statement?
02:49And would you encourage any other House Democrats to go to El Salvador to protest against the detention of Abrego Garcia?
02:56Our reaction is that Donald Trump has the lowest public approval rating of any president in modern American history.
03:07Congressman Connolly announced earlier today that he'll be stepping back soon as the Oversight Committee ranking member.
03:12I'm wondering what you expect as the timeline for selecting a replacement and whether you'll be endorsing a replacement.
03:18It's a sad day.
03:19We will miss Jerry and his service upon his retirement from the United States Congress.
03:29And he has been a tremendous leader for his district and on the Oversight Committee.
03:36Mr. Jeffries, can I get your reaction, please, to Republicans considering a specific proposal on Medicaid, reducing the FMAP from 90% for the Medicaid expansion population?
03:45What would it mean for New York if they do that?
03:47And do you see that as a threat to ACA, given that that was one of the key components?
03:50Health care is under assault by Donald Trump, Elon Musk, the administration, and rubber-stamped Republicans in the House and in the Senate.
04:00These people, these extremists, they want to take health care away from the American people.
04:05And they know that their constituents aren't here for it, which is why Republicans have been on the run during the last two weeks during the district work period.
04:17Democrats are leaning in to town hall meetings all across America.
04:23Republicans are running away from them.
04:25But now there's a moment of accountability.
04:27And in terms of this FMAP proposal, it's all part of the same scheme.
04:31They want to end Medicaid as we know it.
04:37They're going to hurt children, hurt families, hurt seniors, hurt people with disabilities, close hospitals, shut down nursing homes, and people will die.
04:52This is a matter of life and death at this moment, which is why it's all hands on deck.
04:58And we're going to continue to show up, stand up, and speak up in a variety of ways, inside the Capitol, outside the Capitol, on the Capitol steps, in Democratic districts, in Republican districts, and throughout America.
05:16I want to ask about your sit-in on the steps yesterday.
05:19I mean, it's a slightly different approach to messaging than we've seen from you in the past.
05:25Could you explain why you're taking that approach?
05:32Well, the event that took place on the Capitol steps speaks for itself.
05:37And it certainly was done, as we repeatedly mentioned yesterday, in communicating with millions of Americans who were watching,
05:46that we're standing on the shoulders of great leaders like John Lewis.
05:53Many of us, as we are navigating through these challenging times, will ask the question, what will John Lewis have done?
06:00And in this particular instance, when the health care of the American people was threatened, we know the answer.
06:10In 2017, when Republicans were trying to repeal and displace the Affordable Care Act,
06:17John Lewis took to the steps of the United States Senate, sat down, and had a conversation with the American people as part of the effort to stop the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
06:35We're going to continue to ask the question, what would John Lewis do in this moment?
06:44And it's clear that he would say, never give up, never give in.
06:48Go out there and get into some good trouble.
06:52That's why we sat down on the Capitol steps yesterday.
06:56Just two of us, great leadership from Senator Booker, and we saw how the American people responded.
07:05Thank you, Mr. Leader.
07:06You characterized the President's first 100 days as a failure.
07:10I wanted to get your thoughts.
07:11It's been a few weeks after Congress's 100-day mark.
07:14What are your thoughts on how House Democrats, how Congressional Democrats as a whole have responded to this failure?
07:20You say that you all are communicating in different ways.
07:22You just spoke about the city, and you say we're going to see more in the upcoming weeks.
07:27How would you characterize or reflect on how House Democrats have responded to this moment over the past 100-plus days?
07:33Well, one, a lot that we'll continue to do has to do with timing and the rhythm of the legislative process
07:43and how we engage in making sure that we are aggressively pushing back when the moment presents itself
07:52so that we can defeat the reckless Republican efforts to hurt the American people.
08:01We continue to be in a more-is-more environment.
08:05Not less is more, a more-is-more environment.
08:13Rallies, press conferences, demonstrations, sit-ins, town hall meetings in Democratic districts,
08:22town hall meetings in Republican districts, days of action.
08:28More will continue to be more, including, by the way, Democratic-led steering and policy hearings.
08:36We've now had four in the Capitol, and we'll be traveling the country.
08:41More is more.
08:43And that's, I think, what you've seen over the last 100 days, and that's what you'll continue to see.
08:52Do you think these efforts have helped to crater some of Trump's popularity?
08:56His approval seems to be going down, and four polls yesterday showed that his approval continues to go down.
09:01Do you think that, do you take any credit for what's been happening in public opinion over the last few weeks
09:07as it pertains to Trump's economic numbers?
09:10It's a great question.
09:11What we said from the very beginning is that Donald Trump lied about his willingness to lower costs in America
09:20and drive down the high cost of living.
09:22We said that from the very beginning, and that we had them on the run on the economy, on health care, and social security,
09:30with the economy being first amongst equals, while at the same time, of course,
09:36defending freedom, liberty, justice, and due process in the United States of America, and will continue to do that.
09:45But Donald Trump made a core promise to the American people.
09:48He was going to lower costs on day one.
09:51Costs aren't going down.
09:52They're going up.
09:53Inflation is on the way up.
09:56Donald Trump is crashing the economy.
09:59And Republicans in the Congress, these rubber-stamped Republicans, are actively letting it happen.
10:07And that's why the American people have said, inside of 100 days, enough.
10:13This is a disaster.
10:15It's an unmitigated disaster.
10:16This guy has the lowest approval rating of any president in modern American history inside of 100 days.
10:24That's extraordinary.
10:26This is the same group that bragged to all of you and the American people that they had some extraordinary mandate.
10:32We said from the very beginning there was no mandate.
10:38News of our demise was greatly exaggerated.
10:41President Trump came out in support or signal support for a stock trade ban.
10:52I know that's something that you've been supportive of.
10:54Do you think that this builds momentum?
10:56Have you had conversations with GOP leadership about this?
11:00Where do you think this stands now with the president's support?
11:02His support is meaningless as it relates to Democrats in the United States Congress.
11:11You've said that you're going to support incumbents who are facing primary challenges.
11:15Some of your members don't believe that David Hogg can serve as a DNC vice chair while simultaneously supporting those primary challenges.
11:23Do you agree with that?
11:24My statement on this issue, which was extensive, speaks for itself.
11:32Thank you, Peter Jeffries.
11:33I wanted to just follow up on a question asked earlier about Connolly.
11:37Can you speak more specifically just to the process of replacing him as ranking member of Oversight?
11:44We know that AOC ran late last year.
11:46Should she be in contention again?
11:48So, Republicans are trying to rip away health care from the American people.
11:54They're crashing the economy in real time, driving us toward a recession, targeting law-abiding immigrant families,
12:03trying to erase and whitewash American history, including black history and civil rights history.
12:10They are ending Social Security as we know it, and Jerry Connolly just announced that because he is battling the recurrence of cancer,
12:25he will not be seeking re-election.
12:28That's the extent of any comment that I'm going to make about the great Jerry Connolly at this moment.
12:37Thank you, Leader.
12:38Related to protests, the Reverend William Barber and other prominent faith leaders were just arrested in the Capitol Rotunda today.
12:43You spoke about the legacy of John Lewis.
12:46What acts of civil disobedience should members engage in or endorse?
12:52And do you specifically endorse the protest that William Barber was making, which was-
12:56We're in a more-is-more environment, and Reverend Barber spoke powerfully at the sitting yesterday.
13:05Thank you, Leader.
13:09Congressman Thandar introduced seven articles of impeachment today against President Trump.
13:13Given that Dems are out with messaging on other fronts, is introducing articles of impeachment an effective way of messaging,
13:19given that the numbers are just not on your side right now in the House?
13:23Haven't talked to him about it.
13:26Sam just stole my impeachment question.
13:29Same answer.
13:29I will-I will-I will-I'll follow up.
13:32Are you-if leadership is not supporting those efforts, are you actively discouraging members introducing articles?
13:40This isn't the first member so far that has-or said they would introduce articles.
13:45I haven't said one way or the other.
13:47I haven't evaluated the articles that were introduced.
13:50I haven't even had an opportunity to talk with him about it.
13:57Immediately after the presidential election, I think there were some Democrats who thought,
14:01should look for areas of agreement.
14:02You've even said there could be areas that benefit the American people.
14:06You'd look for agreement.
14:07The president clearly has not made that outreach to Democrats.
14:10Does that influence your posture and this more-is-more approach, the way that he's conducted his presidency in these first 100 days?
14:18The first 100 days have been a failure for the American people.
14:24I spoke on the House floor on January 3rd and indicated that we were prepared to try to make life better for the American people,
14:33particularly as it relates to driving down the high cost of living.
14:35But it became very clear at the outset that Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and compliant House Republicans, rubber-stamped Republicans in the Congress
14:47had no interest in the world in addressing the cost-of-living crisis that we have in the United States of America.
14:58Now, what's interesting about that is that they spent all of last year, 2024, saying it was their top priority
15:06and that Republicans were going to bring about the golden age of America,
15:15which presumably meant they were going to improve the economy for the American people.
15:21They haven't introduced a single bill, let alone pass one, and bring it to the floor to make life better for the American people.
15:30Not a single bill, not a single executive action or administrative order has actually been issued
15:40that brings down the cost of living in the United States of America.
15:45It's a failure.
15:46It's a failure, and the American people have taken notice.
15:53This, in fact, began in late February, but now it's so clear and so obvious that no one can ignore it.
16:05Thank you, everyone.