Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries discusses latest debt ceiling negotiations

Interview

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Good evening. Great to be with you.

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Well, President Biden, House and Senate Democrats continue to make clear that there's only one reasonable, acceptable, responsible path forward, which is to make sure that we avoid a dangerous default on our debt in a manner consistent with what has been done under Democratic presidents and Republican presidents for decades.

It's unfortunate that many of the extreme MAGA Republicans in the Capitol have chosen to put the country in a hostage-taking situation and essentially say to us that either we must accept the default on America act with extreme cuts to Medicaid that would impact disabled children and seniors, extreme cuts to health care, extreme cuts to law enforcement, extreme cuts to food insecurity programs, as well as extreme cuts to education.

Accept the default on America act is their position, or else we will default. And that's just inherently unreasonable. I'm thankful that President Biden convened us yesterday to have a conversation, House, Senate, along with the administration, and will be bringing us back together on Friday to see where's the common ground, where are the areas of disagreement, and how can we bridge those gaps in order to make sure that we avoid a default?

So we're on a path, hopefully, to resolving this issue sooner, rather than later.

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Well, I share the assessment that we need to resolve this issue sooner, rather than later.

Even flirting with a default could trigger a job-killing recession. It could crash the stock market. That will hurt millions and millions of retirees across the country. It's also going to dramatically raise costs. And so, hopefully, on Friday, the Republican leadership will see fit to come together, sit down, have a reasonable discussion about finding common ground, and take us out of this hostage-taking situation.

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Well, President Biden's position from the very beginning, which has also been the position of Leader Schumer, Senate and House Democrats, is that we must avoid a default on our debt.

But, simultaneously, we are, of course, open and willing and ready and able to have a discussion about what future spending priorities, what future investment priorities, and what future revenue should look like to make sure that we're protecting the health, safety, and economic well-being of the American people.

Geoff, that is something that we do here in Congress every year. But we can't do it with a gun being held to the head of the American people by the extreme MAGA Republicans here in the Capitol threatening a dangerous default. And, hopefully, again, on Friday, when we have this meeting, we can arrive at a path forward to do what is necessary to pay America's bills.

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Well, we're facing an unprecedented surge of migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, from Haiti, from the Central American Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.

And I think the administration has done all that it can with the resources that it has been provided. Clearly, the administration needs more in order to fully establish order at the border and a pathway forward, a pathway forward that should involve making sure that our values as a nation of immigrants, as a compassionate nation, are also not violated; they're vindicated.

Congress should come together. Earlier today, Congresswoman Linda Sanchez introduced the U.S. Citizenship Act, which is a comprehensive immigration reform bill anchored in common sense and compassion and consistent with our country's history as a nation anchored in the rule of law.

That's the approach that we should take moving forward. Unfortunately, what we see from the extreme MAGA Republicans here in Washington, D.C., is that they are trying to bring forth an immigration bill that will throw children out of the country, break up families, and spend billions of dollars in -- or in the effort to construct a medieval border wall that is a failed policy of the former president of the United States of America, a 14th century solution to a 21st century problem.

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Well, the public health emergency is over.

But there are tools that will be available to the administration, as has been indicated. With Title 42 lapsing, Title 8 does provide some ability for the Biden administration to manage the situation at the border. But we are going to have to provide the Department of Homeland Security with additional resources, so that it can do its job.

And I urge my Republican colleagues to join us in making sure that the Department of Homeland Security has those resources so it can appropriately conduct itself along the border.

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Well, we want to continue to try to find common ground whenever and wherever possible with the other side of the aisle. That's what we've always been about.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was bipartisan, the CHIPS and Science ACT bipartisan, Safer Communities Act bipartisan. Many of the things that we've done over the last several years have been bipartisan in nature. So we're going to continue to try to find common ground to make life better for everyday Americans and build an economy from the middle out and the bottom up under the leadership of President Biden.

And, at the same time, we are going to push back against extremism whenever necessary. And, unfortunately, in the House of Representatives, we see a lot of extremism on issues like reproductive freedom, or gun safety and the inability to do something on this issue, or even on democracy, and we will continue to stand strong against that extremism.

It's been an honor to serve the people of the 8th Congressional District, to previously serve as chair of the House Democratic Caucus, and a honor to now serve in this position. And it's just consistent with America as a country, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

I emerged from a working-class community in Crown Heights. I think that's the best of the American tradition of sending people to Washington, D.C., who try our best to represent those individuals who are privileged to serve.

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Thank you.

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