Hakeem Jeffries (00:06):
Good afternoon, everyone. It's my honor to be joined by Whip Katherine Clark, Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, one of our co-chairs of the Steering Policy Committee, Nanette Barragán, Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Ted Lieu, five-term-and-under representative Stephen Horsford, and of course, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, Ranking Member Jim McGovern from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which is well-represented to my right.
Katherine Clark (00:38):
[inaudible 00:00:39] is to your left.
Hakeem Jeffries (00:44):
That would be correct. We're on day eight of the Republican healthcare crisis, a that has been visited upon the American people for months and is causing great devastation to working-class America, rural America, suburban America, small-town America, the heartland of America, urban America, and Black and Brown communities all throughout America. House Democrats are here at the Capitol on duty and ready to reopen the government and enact a spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people, while at the same time addresses the Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating the American people and is causing premiums, co-pays, and deductibles to go up for tens of millions of Americans because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
(01:54)
We're asking everyday Americans from all across the country to share your story about the premium increases that you are experiencing with your member of Congress, with your United States Senator, and certainly with any of us. If you've received a letter, or when you receive a letter in the next few weeks, we want you to reach out to us and share that letter with us. You can do it at democraticleader.house.gov/shareyourstory. That's democraticleader.house.gov/shareyourstory.
(02:49)
We are fighting for you. We know that because of the Republican healthcare crisis and their refusal to address the Affordable Care Act tax credits that are on the brink of expiring, that millions of Americans are about to see their healthcare costs double, triple, or quadruple. And when you get that letter in the mail, share it with us. You can share it with us, as I indicated, and you can include a, #MyPremiumWentUp. MyPremiumWentUp and it's going up because of the continued Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
(03:51)
My honor to yield to our Democratic Whip, Katherine Clark.
Katherine Clark (03:57):
Thank you so much, Mr. Leader. We are so grateful for your leadership and your vision at this point of healthcare crisis, and I'm proud to be here with these representatives in leadership of our caucus.
(04:14)
Here's the terrible thing about the position that the Republicans have backed themselves into with healthcare; it hurts everyone. And this isn't about red states or blue states. These premium hikes, these cuts are going to make healthcare more expensive and harder to obtain for every American.
(04:39)
We had a hearing today in the Capitol and we were joined by a 29-year-old woman, Mariah Plant from West Virginia, and she told us about her family's struggle. She's the full-time caretaker for her brother, Matt, who suffers a lot of disabilities and needs to be home and be on Medicaid. And without that support, she doesn't know how she would be able to provide for her brother. She also runs a small business and receives a tax credit so that she can afford health insurance under the ACA. So, she is looking at potentially a cut to Medicaid that jeopardizes her ability to care for her loved one and her family and, in the immediate future, a steep rise in premiums and no ability for her to make that up. Her budget simply doesn't stretch that far and like most Americans, she doesn't have that extra hundreds of dollars lying around a month to be able to afford healthcare.
(05:57)
And that was the story from West Virginia. And as I look in my district, as premium notices are coming out, a couple in Massachusetts that makes $88,000 a year is looking at having their premium doubled. If we go to Speaker Johnson's hometown of Benton, Louisiana, that same couple making $88,000 will see a tripling of their premium, three times. That could be around $23, 000 a year for that couple to pay. People can't afford that. 60% of families in this country cannot meet the basics, cannot afford the basics for their family, and these sort of dramatic jumps in premiums are what is going to pull them under.
(06:55)
So, here we are and we implore the Republican Party, go talk to your neighbors and hear their anxieties about what's happening to their healthcare, what's happening in your shutdown you're imposing on them, and get on a plane and come back to Washington, and get to work in reopening this government and protecting healthcare and the American worker. And with that, I am proud to yield to the Chairman of our Caucus, Pete Aguilar.
Pete Aguilar (07:32):
Thank you Whip Clark, and thank you Leader Jeffries for convening us here, for your strength in asking House Democrats to be here, to be present, to be here at work. This is day eight of the Republican-led shutdown. It's the second week that House Republicans have refused to call us back to the house, the last session day being I believe September 19th. Rather than tackling the most pressing issues facing our nation, including the rising costs of healthcare, Republicans are running from their responsibilities.
(08:08)
By failing to negotiate with Democrats to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, Republicans are guaranteeing that they are exacerbating this healthcare crisis. Take for example Iowa's first congressional district, represented by Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks. This, by the way, is the same member who said she'll hold town halls when hell freezes over just this week, a 60-year-old couple earning $82,000 a year will see their annual premiums rise by 200%; $13,000 a year. For another example, Republican Congressman Gabe Evans, Colorado District, a family of four earning just $64,000 a year will see their premiums increase 195%, or $2,500 a year.
(09:01)
Think about that. Americans are already struggling with the affordability crisis and they are being jammed with this healthcare crisis, all at the hands of Speaker Johnson and his Republican colleagues. And they're lying, claiming that they're the ones working around the clock to help fix healthcare. If that's true, where are they? Where are they? The Democrats are here trying to solve this crisis that they created with their big ugly bill. The American people are smart enough to know who is responsible for their healthcare costs going up. I hope that Republicans will wake up, that they'll do the right thing, and that they'll work with us to keep healthcare costs down. I'll turn it back over to Leader Jeffries.
Hakeem Jeffries (09:52):
Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. We've also been joined by Suzan DelBene, the Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Questions?
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Thank you so much. As you pointed out, medical premiums are soon set to rise dramatically. Yet Obamacare requires COVID era funding just to keep healthcare costs down. Doesn't this prove Obamacare was ultimately a failed policy fix for healthcare? And how can Democrats be trusted to fix healthcare when Obamacare was ultimately the solution here?
Hakeem Jeffries (10:21):
The overwhelming majority of the American people, including Republicans, support the Affordable Care Act, because it's a vital part of providing health insurance coverage to working class Americans, middle class Americans, and everyday Americans.
(10:39)
Republicans are peddling a lie that the current structure of the Affordable Care Act relates to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has nothing to do with COVID-19 pandemic. The Affordable Care Act tax credits were put into place as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. That's what we're talking about, lowering the costs for hardworking American taxpayer at a moment when the Republican healthcare crisis is skyrocketing, the cost of living related to premiums, copays, and deductibles.
(11:17)
And by the way, we have a cost of living crisis in the United States of America that Republican policies are making worse. Donald Trump and the Republican spent all last year promising to lower costs on day one. Costs aren't going down and the American people know it. Costs are going up, inflation is going up. The Trump tariffs are adding thousands of dollars a year in additional expenses at a moment when everyday Americans are already struggling to make ends meet. And now, Republicans have shut down the government rather than extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits to try to make health insurance more affordable, which is why Democrats are in this fight on behalf of the American people. [inaudible 00:12:12].
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Leader Jeffries, what do you make of Speaker Johnson canceling House sessions this week, and when do you think he'll call for the House to return?
Hakeem Jeffries (12:20):
House Democrats were here last week. House Democrats are here this week. House Democrats will be here next week. House Republicans are on vacation right now. That's extraordinary. They canceled votes last week. House Republicans have canceled votes this week. We haven't been in session since September 19th. And on that day, Republicans got out of town before sundown, never to be seen again.
(12:55)
As we approach the government shutdown and are now in day eight of the Trump Republican shutdown, and these extremists don't even want to show up to work, when they're requiring hard-working federal employees to show up to work without pay because of the Republican shutdown.
(13:16)
And so we've repeatedly made clear, we will sit down as Democrats anytime, anyplace, anywhere with anyone, our Republican colleagues, either here in the Congress or go back to the Oval Office to reopen the government, to enter into a spending agreement that actually makes life better for the American people, and that addresses the Republican healthcare crisis. I don't know if anyone else wanted to add. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Republicans love to advocate for more work requirements for poor people, people on SNAP, people on Medicaid. Well, I got an idea. Let's have a work requirement for Republicans to show up to Congress and do your goddamn job. Millions of people are about to lose their healthcare. This is a serious crisis we're in and we can avoid it. We can avoid people losing their healthcare. We can keep the government open. They need to show up.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Mr. Leader. I think Mr. Leader, yesterday, you said that one-year extension on the ACA subsidies was a non-starter. Jeanne Shaheen told me that, that red line was not helpful to the conversations that she's having in the Senate with her colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Leader Schumer said this morning that he didn't want to negotiate in public and declined to go as far as you did yesterday. Are you still consistent with red line being no to a one-year extension, or where are you at today on that?
Hakeem Jeffries (14:45):
Yes. If anything is presented to us, of course, the caucus will consider it in good faith. But at the moment, here's where we stand, Republicans enacted massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors as part of the one big ugly bill. And they made those tax breaks permanent, while at the same time, ripping Medicaid away from 14 million Americans and stealing food from the mouths of hungry children, seniors and veterans.
(15:18)
And then are we to take the position at this moment in time in the midst of a Republican healthcare crisis, that we can't provide stability and certainty to working class Americans who rely on the Affordable Care Act tax credits? That's an unreasonable position for anyone in Congress to take at this moment in time, relative to what Republicans have done and ripping healthcare away from tens of millions of Americans.
(15:50)
Our position that has been articulated in a bill that was introduced by Senator Patty Murray and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro is a permanent extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits to match the permanent extension that Republicans on their own saw fit to do for the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected as part of the Republican continuing effort to subsidize the lifestyles of the rich and shameless.
(16:21)
At the end of the day, the caucus in good faith will evaluate anything presented from the Senate. But in our view, as it relates to the Affordable Care Act tax credits and any other effort to address the Republican healthcare crisis, it has to be meaningful. It has to be meaningful in terms of making a difference in the lives of the American people.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
Do you maintain that there's no daylight between you and Senate Democrats?
Hakeem Jeffries (16:56):
Yes. Right.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
Thank you, Mr. Leader. There's been a lot of discussion about whether there should be a vote on paying the military during this shutdown. I know some of your members penned a letter to the Speaker asking him to call the House back on it. Today, the Speaker said unlikely because, basically, the House had the opportunity to have that vote. Do you believe there should be a stand-alone vote on military pay?
Hakeem Jeffries (17:22):
I believe that we should pay our men and women in uniform, and I support the effort of our members to make sure that, that takes place. And shame on the Republicans for remaining on vacation and even refusing to pay our troops because of their continuing effort to gut the healthcare of the American people, which they're putting above even the men and women of the US military. Captain? Oh, you want Justice?
Speaker 7 (17:57):
Go ahead.
Speaker 6 (17:59):
Having served on active duty in the US military, it is insane not to pay our troops. Some of them are in high-risk missions and you want them thinking about whether they can get paid, whether they can care for their family? You don't want them focused on that. You want them focused on our national security, and this is going to affect our national security. House Democrats are here, Republicans are on vacation. They need to come back on work and we need to pay our troops.
Katherine Clark (18:26):
I would just add that Mike Johnson sort of doubled down on this and showed their callous disregard for the Americans involved in their shutdown because what he said was a vote to give funding to our troops so they don't miss a paycheck while serving our country would be a show vote. A show vote? I can't imagine anything more disrespectful, and it's just insight into how they are viewing this.
(18:58)
You take the deal we are offering to the American people, and the Republican deal is we take your healthcare away in order to pay for permanent tax breaks for the very wealthiest people. And if you don't take that deal, we're going to shut down government, and we're not even going to come to work while we are telling hardworking Americans who serve the public, you've got to go to work and not get paid. But us, we'll get paid and not show up for work.
(19:33)
That's how little regard they have for the American people and what they're going through, and this entire system and this entire shutdown is based on their allegiance to the very wealthy, and American families are not making it. And every day, they make life harder and more expensive, and you can see it in the way they toss aside payment to the troops as a political
Katherine Clark (20:00):
… political stunt, some sort of showboat. This is something that we have come together in a bipartisan way at the beginning of every shutdown and voted to do. That is what we do when we are in these terrible situations of a government shutdown. The fact that they don't do it tells you exactly how they regard our troops and the American people.
Speaker 8 (20:24):
[inaudible 00:20:26].
Speaker 10 (20:27):
Will you call Speaker Johnson and implore him to swear in Adelita Grijalva?
Hakeem Jeffries (20:32):
We have made clear privately and publicly that Representative Adelita Grijalva should be sworn in immediately without delay. Mike Johnson swore in two Republican members of Congress immediately after their April 1st special elections were concluded during a pro forma session when no one else was even around. That was done by Republicans because they wanted to jam their One Big Ugly Bill down the throats of the American people so they could rip away healthcare, steal food from children, and enact massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors. Republicans acted with great urgency to swear in two right-wing members of Congress to do in the American people in order to reward the wealthy, the well-off, and well-connected. But now at this moment, Representative Adelita Grijalva, who won by much wider margins than those two Republican members… There is no dispute or controversy relative to her election. So many of us are asking the question, why the delay, Mike? What's the delay with respect to Representative-Elect Adelita Grijalva? Does it have anything to do with Republicans' continuing effort to hide the Epstein files from the American people? Inquiring minds want to know. Third row. You.
Speaker 9 (22:26):
Oh, I'm sorry.
Hakeem Jeffries (22:30):
[inaudible 00:22:28] third row.
Speaker 9 (22:30):
It's actually for Whip Clark, [inaudible 00:22:32] addresses, and Leader Jeffries, feel free to as well. I'm just curious what steps you're taking right now to make sure that back pay for federal furloughed workers is guaranteed under the 2019 law.
Katherine Clark (22:45):
We have already taken the steps necessary because, as you pointed out, that is the law that Speaker Johnson voted for. So we know what the law says, and we know that we cannot continue to stand by when the president of the United States says, "You know what we're going to do? We're going to continue to make an already painful shutdown even more painful on the theory that, until morale improves, the beatings will continue on the American people." It's all about harming workers. Now he's saying, "Well, maybe I won't withhold the pay for people who are working without pay for everybody, just those non-deserving workers."
(23:36)
But Johnson knows the law. Donald Trump knows the law. The workers deserve pay, and that's full stop. That is something we voted on in the first Trump administration. He signed that law. So this isn't up for some sort of legal interpretation. That is the law. But that seems to be very out of vogue with this version of the Republican Party. The law is clear. And we are going to stand here for workers who are being put in the position of having to show up for their jobs and do their work without pay or be sent home in furlough and hope that the Republicans come back to Washington and end their shutdown and get people back to work.
Hakeem Jeffries (24:23):
I want to give Nanette Barragán an opportunity to respond to the Representative-Elect Adelita Grijalva situation. Nanette, of course, the immediate past chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Nanette Barragán (24:38):
Well, thank you. I want to echo the Leader's remarks and say, look, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is at the largest it's been. We're going to add a new member. She was duly elected. She's ready to work. She's been showing up here. It's a real disservice and, I think, a slap in the face to those constituents that voted for her that she's not being sworn in to be able to do her work as an official member. Of course, we know that she is set to be the last signator on the discharge petition. So I continue to implore the Speaker to do the right thing. I believe he said yesterday he would get it done, and then they walked it back. But we have a Latina from Arizona who's ready and able, and let's not disenfranchise those voters as they have to sit and wait until the Speaker thinks this political game ends. We should all really call on him to swear her in immediately.
Speaker 11 (25:51):
Thank you, Leader. A follow up on a question that was asked before. We talk about how these subsidies are needed to keep premiums low. I think there is a question in a lot of people's minds that if these subsidies are truly needed to keep those premiums at that level, does that signal that there are reforms needed to the ACA to lower premiums in general?
Hakeem Jeffries (26:11):
It's incredibly important to make sure that we extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for working-class Americans, middle-class Americans, and everyday Americans, people like Mariah Plante, who we heard from earlier today. She's a 29-year-old from a rural part of West Virginia, a state that Donald Trump won by 41 points. Mariah is a small business owner who gets her healthcare through the Affordable Care Act, and that's made affordable by the tax credits. Those tax credits expire. Healthcare will be unaffordable for Mariah. She'll have to pay thousands of dollars more per year, and she's already dealing with the adverse implications of the Republican assault on the healthcare of the American people related to the largest cut to Medicaid in American history.
(27:20)
Why is that? Because Mariah is the sole full-time caregiver for her older brother, Matt. Matt is legally blind, and Matt is someone who is entirely non-verbal, and Matt is someone who requires full-time care. Because of Medicaid as it currently exists, Matt is able to be cared for at home in a loving environment, but now that's threatened by the Republican assault on Medicaid. You know what's also threatened for Mariah and Matt? The fact that their rural hospital may close because of the Republican assault on the healthcare of the American people. Then on top of that, Mariah may not even be able to go see a doctor herself because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
(28:37)
That's why Democrats are in this fight. It's not a political struggle. It's personal for the American people. Just like we're telling Mariah's story, elevating it, as she did earlier today at our hearing so courageously and authentically on behalf of everyone else in West Virginia and throughout the country, we're asking the American people to share their stories with all of us about the hardship that you're facing as a result of the Republican healthcare crisis and the need for something to be done about it right now. I want to give Steven Horsford an opportunity to say anything and Suzan DelBene.
Steven Horsford (29:29):
Thank you, Mr. Leader. I will just add as a member of the Ways and Means Committee and the Subcommittee on Healthcare, these enhanced premium tax credits, one, are supported by 78% of Americans. They understand the impact of those tax credits to their ability to afford healthcare. Just like Republicans made a priority to pass massive tax breaks for the very wealthy, Democrats made it a priority
Steven Horsford (30:00):
… to give tax relief to middle-class families, so that they could afford healthcare. We're using the tax code to help middle-class families afford healthcare, not the ultra-rich get another tax break for a yacht or whatever else they're buying. This is a matter of life and death, and it's a matter of clear priority by the House Democratic Caucus, led by Leader Jeffries, and Whip Clark and the rest of our leadership team. And it is personal because not only are our constituents dealing with this issue, but members of Congress are dealing with these critical issues. And we will make sure that we continue to defend every person's right to healthcare. It is an economic imperative and it's a human right.
Speaker 12 (30:57):
You know what happens when more people have healthcare coverage? People are healthier and we save money. I think it's really important to think about the fact that when we have these tax credits in place, it actually saves us money. Cutting the tax credits means more and more people aren't going to have healthcare, more and more people going to the ER, more and more uncompensated care that others have to pick up the cost for, raising prices on everyone, not just folks on the exchange, raising price on everyone. Our healthcare system is challenged. We see more rural hospitals, more services in hospitals closed. More staff being let go. It's a spiral. So, not only because of the incredible stories, like Mariah that the leader was just talking about, but also from a fiscal standpoint, it's the right thing to do. It helps our communities. More people have coverage. It's more fiscally responsible. And yet, Republicans are still on vacation and have no plan on how to continue going forward.
Speaker 13 (32:04):
I just want to say, look, I sit on Energy and Commerce. I sit on the committee that does everything on healthcare. And I can tell you hearing after hearing, after hearing, we are not hearing Republicans come up with legislation or bills that's going to bring down the cost of their healthcare. On the contrary, everything that's being done is raising cost. So, the party in power right now, the Republican Party who controls what the hearings are, are not having hearings on how to lower the cost of healthcare or premiums.
(32:40)
Look, we want to make sure healthcare is accessible to everybody, whether you're a Democrat, or you're a Republican, or an independent and rural America, small towns, in cities like mine. This is about healthcare. This is about getting everybody access to healthcare. And I can tell you that we do not have those hearings. The party in charge has not expressed an interest in committing on having hearings on how to bring the cost down, so Democrats are fighting to do just that.
Speaker 14 (33:15):
Thank you, Mr. Leader. We've talked a lot about the countless Americans who are going to lose their paychecks in a prolonged shutdown. We've also seen lawmakers from both chambers and both sides of the aisle say that they will forfeit their checks to stand in solidarity with those Americans. Are you or any members of your leadership team planning on doing the same thing?
Hakeem Jeffries (33:34):
That's an individual decision that every member will have to make on November 1st. Hopefully, Republicans will actually get back to Washington well before that, do their jobs so we can sit down, reopen the government now, enact a spending agreement that makes life better for the American people now and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis now.
Speaker 14 (33:58):
Thank you.
Speaker 15 (34:00):
Have you heard from the White House at all since your meeting with the president? And do you think that he ultimately needs to engage in order to have the Republicans perhaps take up healthcare as well?
Hakeem Jeffries (34:13):
In the White House meeting that we had last week, I made clear to the president, with Johnson and Thune sitting right there, that the reason why Leader Schumer and I demanded this meeting is because at the end of the day, nothing's going to happen on the Republican side unless Donald Trump tells them to do it. The Republicans here in Congress have long ago abandoned the notion that they're part of a separate and co-equal branch of government. They don't see their jobs that way. They function like functionaries, like wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Trump administration.
(34:49)
And all they've done all year, these Republicans here in Capitol Hill, is to rubber-stamp Donald Trump's extreme agenda that's raising costs on the American people and ripping healthcare away from them at the same time. If we're going to get a resolution here, we need presidential leadership. That's what Donald Trump himself said 12 years ago in 2013, "If a shutdown happens, the buck stops with the president." This is now the second time that the government has been shut down under Donald Trump and he's in the presidential witness protection program. He's nowhere to be found. He's got time to be on the golf course, but apparently, he doesn't have time to sit down with Democrats in the House and the Senate to reopen the government.
(35:40)
Thank you, everyone.
Speaker 15 (35:41):
Thank you.
Speaker 16 (35:42):
Two-game series now.
Hakeem Jeffries (35:43):
I told you what was going to happen yesterday.
Speaker 17 (35:44):
Go Mariners.
Speaker X (35:44):
[inaudible 00:35:56].
(35:44)
See you at the next one.