Speaker 1 (00:00):
… on day one. Costs aren't going down in the United States of America, costs are going up. Life is becoming more expensive under Donald Trump and Republican control of Congress.
(00:16)
There is nothing in the one big ugly bill that will meaningfully make life more affordable for the American people. In fact, the one big ugly bill will make life more expensive for everyday Americans, particularly as it relates to utility costs. Utility costs are going to go up in the United States of America as a result of Donald Trump's one big ugly bill. Costs aren't going down. Republicans haven't done a damn thing to make life more affordable for the American people.
(01:00)
Costs are too high in this country. That's why Democrats are going to continue to focus our efforts on building an economy that actually is affordable for hardworking American taxpayers. We need to lower housing costs, lower grocery costs, lower utility costs, lower childcare costs, and lower insurance costs. America is too expensive. And things aren't getting better under Donald Trump and House Republican rule, they're getting worse.
(01:38)
On top of that, Donald Trump and House Republicans jam this extreme budget bill down the throats of the American people. They will hurt millions of Americans who are going to lose their healthcare as a result of the one big ugly bill. Hospitals will close. Nursing homes will shut down. Community-based health clinics will not be able to operate. And everyday Americans in every state in this country are going to die as a result of having healthcare ripped away from them by Republicans in this town.
(02:20)
The one big ugly bill rips food out of the mouths of hungry children. Who are these people on the other side of the aisle? Who are they? And on top of it all, ripping healthcare away from the American people, the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripping food out of the mouths of children, seniors, and veterans who are going to go hungry as a result of this one big ugly bill. All of this is being done to reward their billionaire donors with massive tax breaks. The largest transfer of wealth from everyday Americans to billionaires in American history. And these so-called fiscal conservatives are going to explode the debt by more than $3 trillion and set this country on a path toward possible bankruptcy. Every single House Republican who voted against the best interest of their constituents and voted to reward billionaires with massive tax breaks will be held accountable. Questions.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Thanks, Mr. Leader. Tomorrow you've got the primary for the Arizona race to replace Representative Grijalva. As far as the direction of the Democratic Party, you've got this influencer, Deja Foxx, who's running, and then also at Adelita Grijalva, who's got some more endorsements. What does this say, is this a microcosm of where the Democratic Party is right now trying to go forward?
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Raul Grijalva was a leading progressive in the United States Congress, a former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. In fact, he was a chair upon my arrival in the Congress along with Keith Ellison, but a decades-long progressive champion for the communities that he represented in a variety of different ways in Arizona and eventually as a national leader.
(04:44)
So, it's my expectation that whoever emerges from this primary is going to be someone who will continue that progressive legacy on behalf of Chairman Grijalva.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Leader Jeffries, thank you. Could we please get your response to Texas considering a mid-decade redistricting, and what, if any, response do you think there should be from blue states, New York or otherwise?
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Donald Trump is deeply unpopular and the one big ugly bill is deeply unpopular, and Republicans have done nothing with their majority but hurt everyday Americans. That is why they are desperate to cheat in terms of trying to rig the midterm elections by gerrymandering in an extraordinary fashion the Texas congressional map, which is already gerrymandered.
(05:41)
House Republican leaders spend a lot of time trying to convince the American people that they just did something that they're proud of. If that, in fact, was the case, why is the first step that you are taking an effort to rig the Texas congressional map, in a desperate attempt to hold on to power? In this country, in the United States of America, elected officials should earn the support of the voters that we hope to represent. Republicans want a country where politicians choose their voters, not the other way around. It reeks of desperation, and we're going to do everything that we can do in Texas and beyond to respond.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Thank you, Leader. No doubt New York is going to play a big role in who controls the House next year. We've had Republicans tell us that the nominee for New York City mayor is a gift for Republicans in New York state. Do you think he's a political liability?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Donald Trump is a gift to democratic prospects in Virginia, New Jersey, and in the midterm elections next year.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
Jumping off of that, thank you, two questions. One, will you be meeting with Mr. Mamdani? He's going to be here in D.C. this week. So one is, will you be meeting with him when he's here or when will you be meeting with him? And two, do you agree with Cuomo's essentially thought or request that candidates who are not leading drop out by September?
Speaker 1 (07:29):
I'm scheduled to meet with the Democratic nominee at the end of the week back home in Brooklyn. Haven't had a conversation with Eric Adams or Andrew Cuomo since the primary and have no current plans to do so at this moment. Thanks.
Speaker 6 (07:48):
Thank you, Leader Jeffries. I have a foreign policy question, if you don't mind. What is your reaction to President Trump issuing today, to Putin, to end the war in 15 days in Ukraine for [inaudible 00:08:00] 100% of their tariffs? How do you see this playing out and what's the sentiment of the Democrats to this news?
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Vladimir Putin has spent the entire year punking Donald Trump and the Trump administration. Donald Trump promised many things to the American people and continues to betray the American people and break promise after promise, after promise, in a whole lot of areas, including Donald Trump's promise that there would be peace in Ukraine on day one of his presidency.
(08:38)
How is that working out? Donald Trump has spent the first six months of his presidency playing footsie with Vladimir Putin. And the response from Vladimir Putin, a sworn enemy of the United States of America, has been to unleash terror on Ukrainian children, communities, and civilians. Donald Trump has zero credibility in this area. Is he just now figuring out that Ukraine is a friend to the United States of America and Russia is an enemy? Is he just now figuring out that the United States should always stand on the side of democracy, freedom and truth? Which is standing with Ukraine as opposed to standing on the side of authoritarianism, tyranny, and propaganda, which is what he's been doing by standing with Russia and Vladimir Putin, is he just now figuring this out?
(09:44)
Congress has to act independently in this area and we should sanction Russia and continue to keep the pressure on Vladimir Putin and Russia, a sworn enemy of this country, until the Ukrainian people are able to achieve victory for themselves, our NATO allies in Europe, and the free world.
Speaker 7 (10:08):
Leader Jeffries I want to get your thoughts on the GENIUS Act and the CBDC Surveillance Act. Do you support those? Will you advance those?
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Yeah. It's my expectation to have a conversation about the crypto legislation at the leadership meeting that we have today at 5:15 and then at the steering and policy meeting, and then at the Democratic caucus meeting tomorrow morning, and I'll articulate a position on both pieces of legislation thereafter.
Speaker 8 (10:36):
Thank you, Mr. Leader. Speaker Johnson was asked yesterday the legislative agenda going forward now that the reconciliation bill's passed. He said that Republicans are going to pursue up to two more reconciliation bills, one as soon as this fall, one next spring. He said that Republicans were going to push for lower-level funding for their 2026 funding bills, more rescission packages, and codifying Trump executive orders.
(11:02)
I want to get your response to that legislative agenda. How will Democrats continue to push back? And do you think, if you say that the reconciliation bill that just passed is so unpopular, do you think that it's wise to pursue additional party-line pieces of legislation?
Speaker 1 (11:19):
If the Republican legislative agenda in the House continues to be to unleash chaos, cruelty, and corruption on the American people, we will continue, as Democrats, to strongly oppose it.
Speaker 9 (11:35):
Over the last few days, a number of members of your caucus have been posting and engaging in some of the discourse about Jeffrey Epstein. Is this appropriate for your members to be doing so? Do you want to see any action on that front?
Speaker 1 (11:48):
The American people deserve to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth as it relates to this whole sordid Jeffrey Epstein matter.
(11:57)
Democrats didn't put the Jeffrey Epstein thing into the public domain. This was a conspiracy that Donald Trump, Pam Bondi, and these MAGA extremists have been fanning the flames of for the last several years, and now the chickens are coming home to roost. The American people deserve to know the truth. What, if anything, is the Trump administration and the Department of Justice hiding? What are you hiding? If you're not hiding anything, prove that to the American people, and if you are trying to hide something, as many of Donald Trump's MAGA supporters apparently believe, then the Congress should actually work hard to try to uncover the truth for the American people.
(12:50)
There are only two things that are possible here. Option one, Donald Trump, Pam Bondi, and the MAGA extremists intentionally lied to the American people for years about the Jeffrey Epstein situation. That's option one. Option two is that, in fact, there's reason for the American people to be concerned as it relates to what information has not been released that could be damaging to the Trump administration and the friends and family of the Trump administration and their billionaire corrupt supporters. And so, they're actively engaging in a cover-up. Option one, they lied for years. Option two, they're engaging in a cover-up.
(13:52)
At this point, it seems reasonable that can only be one of the two things. And so, it's Congress's responsibility, in a bipartisan way, to ask the questions and try to get answers on behalf of the American people.
Speaker 10 (14:09):
[inaudible 00:14:08]. Two of your members have introduced or announced legislation to either force or urge the administration to release all the files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Have you had a conversation with those members? Do you plan to? Do you support those pieces of legislation-
Speaker 1 (14:24):
I haven't had a conversation with those members or an opportunity to evaluate the resolution and the legislation. However, I think transparency and sunlight for the American people is always the better course of action.
Speaker 11 (14:40):
The Senate is going to be voting later today on Trump's first judicial nominee of the second administration. Do you think Democrats have done enough to oppose Trump's judicial nominees thus far?
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Democrats in the Senate have been working incredibly hard to push back aggressively against Donald Trump's extreme agenda. We partnered closely with Senate Democrats under the leadership of Chuck Schumer, to strongly and uniformly oppose Donald Trump's one big ugly bill, and I'm confident that Senate Republicans will continue to rubber-stamp Donald Trump's extreme judicial choices and Senate Democrats will continue to aggressively push back on behalf of the American people.
(15:28)
This whole situation that America has found itself in over the last six-plus months has been one big, corrupt, chaotic, and cruel project that has been unleashed on the American people, and it continues. I mean, this Texas thing shouldn't surprise anyone, because despite the claims by House Republican leaders that the American people have fallen in love with these extremists in the House of Representatives, and so they're acting upon a mandate. Give me a break.
(16:14)
The only reason, the only reason that House Republicans even have a majority right now is because they stole three seats from the people of North Carolina. North Carolina is a 50/50 state. Donald Trump narrowly won the state in 2024. It's a Democratic governor, a Democratic lieutenant governor, a Democratic attorney general, Democratic elected officials across the state of North Carolina who won on the same day. North Carolina is a 50/50 state.
(16:54)
The North Carolina Congressional Delegation, which previously had fair congressional lines, produced a 50/50 congressional delegation, seven Democrats, seven Republicans, as recently as January 2nd of this year. That was the makeup of the North Carolina Congressional Delegation. What happened? Republicans engaged in mid-decade redistricting in a 50/50 state that had fair maps and produced an evenly divided delegation, and took it from seven/seven, stole three seats that were in Democratic hands from the people of North Carolina as a result of illegitimate mid-decade congressional gerrymandering and turned that delegation into 10 Republicans and four Democrats.
(17:48)
There's a three-seat difference in the House of Representatives right now, when Republicans are at full strength and Democrats are at full strength, 220 Republicans to 215 Democrats. That entire difference, the majority that Republicans have can be explained solely by the fact that they cheated in North Carolina. These people have zero credibility in terms of the issues that they're allegedly championing on behalf of the American people. If you believed in your ideas and the power of your issues, then why are you trying to cheat now in Texas, just like you did in North Carolina?
(18:37)
The problem that Republicans confront is that the Texas congressional map is already gerrymandered, and so this gerrymander may actually turn into a dummymander, because they are going to create a situation where 4 or 5, 6, 7, 8 Republicans who are currently in safe districts are going to be on the front line of our efforts to flip seats, particularly in a midterm election where Donald Trump is deeply unpopular and his signature one big ugly bill is deeply unpopular.
(19:17)
Imagine a group of people, this is how corrupt they are, who in the middle of a search and rescue operation that is taking place in Texas right now, dozens of children drowned to death, and some of that has to do with incompetence in the Texas state government and incompetence in the Trump administration, and instead of actually trying to be there for the people of Texas and the Hill Country, children at summer camp who's lost their lives, they call a special session. And the main reason for that special session is to try to steal the midterm elections by rigging the Texas congressional map. These people are a complete and total embarrassment. The American people are not going to stand for it, and things aren't going to get better for them politically, they're only going to get worse. Thank you.