LEADER JEFFRIES ON MSNBC: "WE HAD TO RESCUE HOUSE REPUBLICANS FROM THEIR OWN EXTREMISM"

Press Release

Yesterday, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries joined MSNBC Alex Wagner Tonight ahead of the vote on the Bipartisan Budget Agreement to discuss how House Democrats remain committed to protecting everyday Americans from continued extreme MAGA Republican attempts to hold the economy hostage.

Leader Jeffries (right) and Alex Wagner (left) appearing on screen

WAGNER: House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Congressman, thank you very, very much for being here. I am told that voting has begun, so we will not keep you too long. But I got to ask you, on this network last night, you said Kevin McCarthy needs to have 150 Republican votes. Do you think he has those votes as of this-as of this moment?

JEFFRIES: Well that actually remains to be seen, but it's still our expectation that House Republicans should put up at least 150 votes, approximately two-thirds of their Conference, in connection with an agreement that they themselves negotiated. We'll see what occurs on the House Floor, but House Democrats remain committed to ensuring that we avoid a catastrophic default because we understand the consequences will be devastating for everyday Americans, for working families, for middle class folks, for those who aspire to be part of the middle class, for the poor, the sick and the afflicted, for the people that we fight for each and every day. So we're going to do our part. Certainly my hope that the extreme MAGA Republicans do their part as well.

WAGNER: Do you-did Speaker McCarthy ever reach out to you? He seems to be very much banking on Democratic support here and quite a bit of it. Have you talked to him?

JEFFRIES: We talk often, but we have not talked about specific numbers. However, I continue to make the point publicly and in my private conversations with a wide variety of people on the other side of the aisle, that it's our expectation that in order to get out of this manufactured GOP default crisis, we've got to proceed in a commonsense, bipartisan way. And that means Democratic votes and that means Republican votes, and that's hopefully what we'll see on the House Floor in a few moments.

WAGNER: Do you-earlier today, during a Rules vote, you flashed a green card. I don't think we have a visual of it, but it was a signal to Democrats that they could start voting in support of a bill that was supposed to pass-or in support of a provision effectively that was supposed to pass with only Republican support. Is something similar in place for tonight? If and when Republicans don't meet that 150 vote threshold?

JEFFRIES: Well, we said from the very beginning, across the Caucus, that we want to make sure that we protect everyday Americans from the harmful consequences of our economy crashing, which many extreme MAGA Republicans from the very beginning seemed determined to bring about in part, as they said, because they think it will be in their own political interests in 2024. That's incredibly irresponsible. Earlier today, we had to rescue House Republicans from their own extremism. And we're prepared to make sure that we rescue the economy from a catastrophic default. We'll see what that ultimately looks like in terms of numbers, but we are going to do our part in supporting the leadership of President Joe Biden. We're thankful that he managed to arrive at a resolution that protected Social Security, protected Medicare, protected Medicaid, protected veterans, protected the very important climate change provisions in the context of the Inflation Reduction Act, protected education, protected public safety and protected the American people from the extreme MAGA Republican proposed cuts that would have hurt the health, the safety and the economic well-being of the American people.

WAGNER: How are you feeling about- Well, I should ask you, what are your fellow- What is- What are your- What are your Caucus members, what are Democrats telling you as they have to, as you say, be the adults in the room here, basically pull something across the finish line that they wanted nothing to do with to begin with. What is the general- What is the sentiment inside the Democratic Caucus right now?

JEFFRIES: Well, the sentiment is that we've got to get through this moment and we'll continue to support our president. I believe there will be a strong Democratic vote in support of the resolution that he has negotiated. There'll be some Democrats who may vote against the bill on the Floor. But everyone is unified in support of President Biden's leadership. We've got to get through this moment. We're going to avoid this devastating default. We're going to continue to push back against Republican extremism. And as we emerge from this moment, work to build upon the incredible success and accomplishments under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi and Senate Democrats, House Democrats, President Biden in the last Congress, and building an economy from the middle out and from the bottom up and pushing back against the effort to simply always benefit the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected, which is the policy agenda of the extreme MAGA Republicans on the other side of the aisle.

WAGNER: You- you've invoked the president a number of times. Do you have a message for the White House as they contemplate whether to take the debt ceiling off the table entirely as a legislative cudgel?

JEFFRIES: Well, it's the right thing to do for the American people. And I think once we emerge from this manufactured GOP crisis, one of the things that all of us should do - legislatively, here in the United States Congress, administratively, legally is to explore all options so that we can remove this weaponized vehicle to hold the American people and the economy hostage in incredibly irresponsible ways. If not for the leadership of President Biden, Democrats in- in the House and in the Senate, holding together, we might even be in a very different situation at this moment. And we can't afford to allow extremists to be able to continue to utilize the debt ceiling to hold the American people hostage moving forward. And we should look at all opportunities to stop that from ever happening again.

WAGNER: Yeah, I've got to ask you, as you talk about the extremists, we played a little bit of sound from Marjorie Taylor Greene, who earlier said that in exchange for her support for this bill, she effectively wants someone to be impeached. Do you think Kevin McCarthy is going to have to pay the tab on this, which is to say, kowtow to the most conservative members of his Conference in the days to come? Are you at all concerned about what concessions he might have to make to them in order to hold on to the Speaker's gavel, for example?

JEFFRIES: Well, the American people should continue to be concerned with the extremists that have been on full display and in many ways unleashed. Marjorie Taylor Greene is front and center as a leader of the House Republican Conference. So is George Santos, their Default on America Act passed with the support of George Santos. And you've got individuals who are totally out of control, like Santos, unfit to serve in the United States Congress, but who have become an important part of the fabric of what the modern-day House Republicans represent. That's unfortunate. As Democrats, we're going to continue to try to find common ground whenever and wherever possible to put People Over Politics, do the right thing for the American people, but we will always push back against the extremism whenever and wherever necessary.

WAGNER: What do you think the message to the American people should be about the House Republican Conference right now as they're trying to make sense of this? I think Democrats have done a very decent job of showing the country how they are doing the work, the hard work of governing and keeping the country's economy in safe hands. What should the message be? How should they think about what Speaker McCarthy has done here and the role he plays in guiding his party forward?

JEFFRIES: Well, what we'll continue to see is, on the one hand, House Democrats, Senate Democrats, President Biden, Team Normal, Team America, Team Get Stuff Done for everyday Americans against Team Extreme on the other side of the aisle. Team reasonable, House Democrats, Team Normal. Versus Team Extreme on the other side of the aisle.

WAGNER: It's easy to remember because it rhymes. It also seems to be true. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a very, very busy man tonight. I am deeply appreciative of your time. Thanks and good luck out there.

JEFFRIES: Thank you very much.

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