Mr. Leader (00:06):
Good afternoon everyone. This is day 28 of the Trump Republican shutdown and Democrats continue to make clear that we will sit down with our Republican colleagues anytime, any place, here at the Capitol or back at the White House in order to reopen the government and enact a bipartisan spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people. And address the healthcare crisis that Republicans have caused and is devastating people all across the country in working class America, rural America, urban America, small town America, the heartland of America and Black and Brown communities throughout America, particularly at this point, given the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. That will cause premiums, copays, and deductibles to increase on tens of millions of people by thousands of dollars per year. At the same time, Republicans are now threatening to weaponize hunger against the American people and withhold funding for nutritional assistance for children and seniors and veterans and women.
(01:39)
This is on top of the fact that in the one big ugly bill that Republicans passed in July, in addition to a nearly $1 trillion cut to Medicaid, Republicans enacted the largest cut to SNAP in American history, $ 186 billion cut. They ripped food from the mouths of children, seniors, veterans, women, and families, in order to provide massive tax breaks to their billionaire donors. It's completely and totally unacceptable. And on top of that, now they're threatening to withhold funding that the Trump administration has in a contingency fund in ways that will deprive everyday hard-working American taxpayers of the nutritional assistance they need to put food on the table. It's now my honor to yield to the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (03:00):
Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Leader for convening this press event today and on this particular issue, which is really so critical. And I want to say a thank you to my colleague, Angie Craig as the ranking member on agriculture. Thank you for your expertise, thank you for your leadership on this very, very critical issue that we're talking about today. I want to start by making one thing abundantly clear. What President Trump is doing on the hunger issue and on the nutrition issue is immoral. I am the ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, and I promise you that there is funding available to provide SNAP benefits beyond November 1st. There is at the very least, over $ 5 billion in contingency funds that Congress set aside, Congress, Democrats, and Republicans set aside explicitly to pay out SNAP benefits in the event of some unforeseen circumstances like President Trump's shutdown. They are in fact, by doing this in violation of the Empowerment Control Act of 1974. The contingency funding that we set aside for SNAP is not optional spending, it is required by the law.
(04:35)
We appropriated that money for this purpose. The White House must spend it, and what they are doing right now, blocking these funds from growing out is illegal. As a matter of fact, on October 1st, they took $750 million from this fund to deal with paying benefits in Puerto Rico and providing administrative costs to other states, so they acknowledge that this fund can be used in order to deal with SNAP benefits. There was nothing stopping the Trump administration for making sure that every single one of the 42 million Americans, 16 million children, 8 million seniors, 4 million people with disabilities, 1.2 million veterans received nutrition assistance in November. And we are at a cost of living crisis with skyrocketing food costs. And President Trump is doing right now is using the fear that so many working people have about where their next meal is coming from as a political bargaining chip. Does anyone actually believe for one second that if President Trump really wanted to cover the SNAP benefits, they would not be able to find the money?
(05:42)
When he wanted to bail out his buddy in Argentina, they found $40 billion. When he wanted to build a new ballroom to host his billionaire donors, they found 300, $350 million, they found the money. When he wanted to make sure his Homeland Security Secretary could fly in style on two new luxury private jets, they found the money, $172 million. But now when it comes to making sure hungry families can put food on the table, all of a sudden they can't find the money. And what it costs us every month is $8 billion. And I saw the Secretary Rollins this afternoon saying it's at 9.2. I'm trying to find out where she got that number. It's $8 billion to cover SNAP dollars. Is that right, Angie?
Angie Craig (06:28):
That's right.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (06:29):
Angie knows these numbers by heart. She's now talking about 9.2, false, and that there is no… With the snap of a finger that money can be released and get to people who need it, so if there's between five and $6 billion, we may be $2 billion short, but that's enough to get us into November until what we're doing, and then we can look to deal with the rest of it. The Trump administration is more than happy to cut backroom deals. They want to dole favors out to the highest bidders. It's a shame that 16 million children who rely on SNAP benefits did not shell out a hefty donation to the President's inaugural fund, but their only kids after all. House Republicans are still on vacation. We have not voted on any legislation in over a month, but if they were here I doubt that they would object to the President's decision, not just because they're too cowardly to stand up to him under any circumstances, but because decimating food stamps, it's food stamps, is what they have wanted all along.
(07:34)
Their Big Beautiful Bill as the leader has pointed out and his signature piece of legislation slashes SNAP funding by $189 billion, that will strip 22 million Americans of some or all of their nutrition assistance over 10 years. Let me just conclude by saying to you that, does anybody believe there is a shortage of food in the United States of America? Anyone who believes that? No, we have an abundance of food here in this country, and the President is required by law to use the remaining money in the contingency fund that Congress appropriated. It's not up for debate. He has the broad authority to transfer funds beyond that to cover the program. If he does not do so, it is because he chooses to not do it. It may be because they don't care about feeding hungry families. I don't deal with food insecurity as a phrase. This is about hungry people, people going hungry in the United States when we have an abundance of food in this country. This is not a game. It's people's lives. We're the wealthiest nation in the world, as I said, with the abundance of food.
(08:51)
And no one, no one, not an adult, not a child, not a senior, not a veteran, should go hungry in the United States. Under President Trump and Republicans failed leadership, it is just one crisis after another. Open enrollment for health insurance begins in four days. They have not addressed the healthcare crisis they created. President Trump and the Republicans should return to Washington, end the shutdown, vacation is over. We are here, we are working, and we are ready whenever they decide to join us. Let me turn it over now to the really indefatigable and will-be chair of the Ag, not appropriations, of the Authorization Committee, Angie Craig from Minnesota.
Angie Craig (09:35):
Well, thank you so much, Rosa and thank you Leader Jeffries. We are here today because President Trump and Secretary Brooke Rollins have chosen to take food away from 42 million Americans. Instead of coming to the table and working with Democrats to find a way to protect Americans from losing their healthcare, their health insurance premiums increasing dramatically, or both, the Trump administration has chosen to use the security of food in our country as a bargaining chip in a government shutdown. The President can't even be bothered to be in the country while Americans line up at food shelves across our nation. 440,000 Minnesotans alone need access to the SNAP program. The Trump administration has the appropriated funds and legal authority to fully fund SNAP in November, plain and simple. They are refusing to follow the law and they are cutting food assistance when there are ample funds available, over $5 billion in the SNAP contingency fund. And they have the legal statutory transfer authority to fund the rest. If the President
Angie Craig (11:00):
President wanted to help feed hungry Americans, he would. He's shown us that. He does whatever the hell he wants to, whether it's legal or not. This is not only legal, but it is the right thing to do. But his actions have shown a callous disregard for America's seniors, veterans, and families with children. Earlier this year he canceled food orders to food banks, stopping $500 million worth of food from reaching people in need. Food that our family farmers across this nation have grown. Food that they counted on being able to sell to the nation's food banks. The Republicans' one and only priority this Congress has been The Big Ugly Bill, which not only cut healthcare by a trillion dollars, but also cut SNAP by $186 billion. A frontal assault are on our most effective basic need food assistance program to help vulnerable members of our community who rely on it to keep food on the table. Now the administration is taking food away from 16 million children, 8 million seniors, and 1.2 million veterans.
(12:26)
Their hands are not tied. Their hands are not tied. The law is clear. The law is as clear as this administration's cruelty is as clear. The law is as unambiguous as Congressional Republicans' desire to let the ACA tax credits expire. It is unconscionable, it is egregious, and it is illegal. I'm calling on the president to do the right thing and the moral thing, which coincidentally offers him a chance to do something he rarely does, which is follow the law. I'm calling on my Republican colleagues to speak up to your friends in this administration and at the USDA and deliver a simple message. They have the money and the authority to fund SNAP. Hungry Americans are not poker chips. Their health and well-being are not to be gambled with. And I appreciate, I so appreciate the Attorneys Generals from across this nation, including my own Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison for standing up to this administration earlier today. Stop playing politics with America's hungry children, veterans, the disabled, seniors. Get back to the negotiating table. Open up the government and fund SNAP in November. Thank you.
Mr. Leader (13:52):
Thank you.
Angie Craig (13:52):
Connecticut joined that suit too, so excited to be with you.
Mr. Leader (13:56):
We're going to do on-topic questions first around the shutdown, SNAP and healthcare.
Audience (14:03):
My question is for Congresswoman DeLauro on the shutdown. The speaker said that throughout the shutdown the last month or so that appropriators have still continued to work on the 12 appropriations bills. Can you talk about what that work has looked like as lawmakers have been off The Hill? How have your members been able to engage with Republican appropriators in both The House and Senate?
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (14:24):
Sure. When the four of us sat down, Congressman Cole, Senators Murray and Collins and myself, that's really now over a month ago, and we came together and we talked about two or three things. One of them was that what we needed to do was to have the top lines for the agriculture interior and the Military Construction bill. The second thing, and we agreed that we would do that, so we had a number to work to. The second thing was that we would do a bipartisan continuing resolution, a bipartisan continuing resolution. And that would include two things. One of which was to take into consider democratic priorities, because all of the bills that we had seen were just unilaterally partisan. And amongst those democratic priorities was the issue of healthcare. And the premium subsidies and the Medicaid cuts. It's a trillion dollars and the skyrocketing costs that are now upon people at this very, very moment.
(15:28)
And the other thing that we spoke about, and there was a consensus about this, that what we needed to do was in the future when the appropriators came to a conclusion, that that would stick. And that we wouldn't have any unelected bureaucrats who were saying, "No, money's going here, money's going there everywhere, except for where it was appropriate." We had consensus about that, not a few days later on the table, "Bang, this is the Republican continuing resolution and therefore that's what it is." In the meantime, yes, staff in both the House and the Senate have worked on those three bills, and I will just say they have made progress on the bills, but the issue now is coming to the table to be able to deal with the continuing resolution and the issues that have been central to that, which is cutting the costs and canceling the cuts and saving America's healthcare.
(16:25)
Now, you may want to ask, "What does that have to do with the bill?" Well, the continuing resolution is 91 pages, 67 of those pages are about healthcare and so forth. So it is the appropriate conversation and given that those notices are going out now that we need to deal with it now. So, we are waiting for them to come to the table to reopen the government. And honestly, if we can get my three other colleagues, we'll move on appropriations bills, but they have refused to come to the table since the outset of this debate.
Mr. Leader (17:03):
Donald Trump and Republicans have taken the my way or the highway approach from the very beginning of this Congress. And we've maintained, led by Rosa DeLauro that we want to sit down and negotiate a bipartisan spending agreement, now reopen the government, but at the same period of time address the Republican healthcare crisis. Which has been devastating on everyday Americans and hardworking American taxpayers throughout this year, including the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. Hospitals, nursing homes, and community-based health centers closing because of Republican policies and their One Big, Ugly Bill throughout America, including in rural parts of the country. The American people now confront the possibility of a $536 billion cut to Medicare because of what Republicans did in their One Big, Ugly Bill if Congress doesn't act by the end of this year.
(18:01)
And now because Republicans refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, tens of millions of Americans right now are receiving notices as we approach open enrollment on November 1st, indicating to them that their premiums are going to skyrocket in ways that will make it unaffordable for them to see a doctor when they need to see one, when their children needs to see one, when their family members need to see one. This is a healthcare crisis that Republicans have visited on the American people, and it has to be dealt with decisively. We're now heading into a SNAP crisis. As Angie Craig and Rosa DeLauro have so powerfully articulated, that is a man-made Republican crisis, because Donald Trump has decided that he wants to force millions of Americans, including possibly 16 million children to experience hunger so they could continue their my way or the highway approach toward driving their right-wing extreme agenda down the throats of the American people. Unacceptable.
Angie Craig (19:22):
Mr. Leader.
(19:22):
Thank you, Mr. Leader. Today is the first day air traffic controllers will go without a paycheck. You're speaking about SNAP right now. We also have questions around how troops are going to get paid. At the crux of your fight against the Republican bill is the ACA health care. Are you concerned that these other issues, these other pressing issues like SNAP, the air traffic controllers not getting paid, troops not getting paid, are you concerned that that will start to dominate the conversation or dominate the consciousness of America? That the ACA conversation kind of gets pushed to the wayside?
Mr. Leader (19:55):
Well, we've made clear from the very beginning that we want to enact a bipartisan spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people, that improves their quality of life, that drives down the high cost of living here in this country, where costs haven't gone down, as Trump promised on day one, costs have gone up. And we set out from the very beginning in September that we want to reach a spending agreement that's bipartisan, that meets the needs of the American people in three areas. Their health, their safety, and their economic well-being. And that of course includes making sure that they can put food on the table in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. Donald Trump and Republicans have launched an all-out assault on the American people from the very beginning of this presidency. And it's cruel, and it's punitive, and it's hurting everyday American. We want to reopen the government. Republicans in The House have been on vacation now for five consecutive weeks. They've canceled votes for five consecutive weeks. This is extraordinary.
(21:09)
If we reached an agreement, they wouldn't even be here to pass one, because they want to keep the government closed. And we're just going to continue to urge them to come to the negotiating table so we can reach the type of bipartisan spending agreement that the American people deserve.
Angie Craig (21:30):
Mr. Leader, I would just add to that, look, the time is now that people are looking at what their healthcare costs are going to go up. November 1st when people open their portal in Minnesota on insure, the average increase for a 60-year-old couple is going up $15,000 next year. Think about that. How can Americans
Angie Craig (22:00):
… Americans fit another $15,000 into their budget. They can't even afford their housing and their healthcare and their grocery cost today. This is a moment in time where we have to have the moral courage as Democrats and Republicans to come together to make sure that Americans can stay healthy. People are desperate as they go to renew their healthcare. It's not in December, it's not next year. It is November 1st this Saturday. So in terms of being distracted, people are not distracted by the premium increases that they're getting. They are laser focused on what's happening in their own budgets right now.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (22:47):
If I can… I just want to add one more thing. The young woman in my district, Renee, who I was with on Friday, she got her notice. An increase of $2,000 per month. $24,000 a year for health insurance. Can anybody here pay for that? She can't. Her husband is gravely ill, he doesn't have insurance, et cetera. These are real stories.
(23:21)
But I would say to you that on the food stamp issue, the money is there. Let us not let them get away with saying that they can't do it. Their political will isn't there to feed the people who rely on the SNAP program, which is the most effective anti-hunger program in the United States of America. They're playing fast and loose with people eating. Can you imagine that? But that's the reality, and you need to talk about that.
(23:58)
They've just talked to states about not wanting to reimburse. My state of Connecticut yesterday's putting up three million dollars. They want to know if they can get reimbursed. This administration has said, "No, you can't get reimbursed." But you know what's happened in the past, because Democrats and Republicans have come together to work on these issues? All the benefits have been paid out, whether it was a reimbursement or it was the benefits that they so deserve and that they qualify for. This is an administration that is lawless at its core, and we cannot let them get away with it.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Mr. Leader.
Mr. Leader (24:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
So we're about three days out from where the original Democratic CR was set to expire. Can we expect to see a new Democratic CR with a new date, and any other potential policy changes?
Mr. Leader (24:50):
Well, we'll continue to be in conversation with our Senate Democratic colleagues. We've all held firm to the proposition that we want to reopen the government. We want to negotiate a bipartisan spending agreement. That's our position, and we've maintained it from the very beginning. The problem, the reason why we're in this shutdown, day 28, is that Donald Trump and Republicans continue to maintain a "My way or the highway" approach. And the American people know it, which is why the American people have turned against Donald Trump and Republicans, because their policies aren't working. They've gone too far in area after area after area, and have not made life better for the American people.
(25:35)
So we'll continue to be in dialogue with our Senate Democratic colleagues, but publicly our position has been the same as our private position, which is we'll sit down anytime, anyplace, with anyone on the other side of the aisle, either here at the Capitol or go back to the White House, where we've repeatedly made clear to President Trump, reconvene the legislative leaders. Convene the appropriators. Do what leaders do in moments like this, as opposed to being missing in action now for 28 days while finding $40 billion to bail out a right-wing wannabe dictator in Argentina and destroying the historic parts of the White House in real time so that he can construct a ballroom where he'll be celebrated like a wannabe king.
(26:31)
This is all outrageous stuff, and the American people see it unfolding before their very eyes, and they know that Donald Trump and Republicans have not been serious about doing what is necessary to enact a spending agreement that actually improves the quality of life of hardworking American taxpayers. So.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Mr. Leader.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Thank you Mr. Leader. Republicans have said that the easiest way to fund SNAP is to reopen the government, and you say that Democrats want to reopen the government. Why not call on your Senate colleagues or Senate Democratic colleagues to reopen the government and alleviate all the impacts of the shutdown, and then immediately dive headfirst into solving this healthcare crisis, all hands on deck?
Mr. Leader (27:14):
As has been the case, and as Angie Craig and Rosa DeLauro, who I'll yield to momentarily, have repeatedly said, the funds have already been allocated by the Congress in a bipartisan way to allow a continuation of SNAP benefits through November 1st, deep into the month of November, and there's additional funds that are available to be reallocated so that not a single person in this country goes hungry. And if that happens beginning on November 1st, it's because Donald Trump and Republicans want the American people to go hungry. And that's the problem that we confront.
Angie Craig (27:56):
Yeah, that's absolutely the case, and that's exactly what the lawsuit that was filed across this country by 23 states, District of Columbia, others, says, that they have an absolute legal responsibility to use the contingency fund to fund SNAP, that we have never seen a lapse in funding of SNAP during a government shutdown previously. And they also have the authority, Secretary Brooke Rollins, to move additional money over to make sure that not a single child in this country goes hungry. They are ignoring their legal responsibility. They are ignoring the moral clarity that we have, that there is no way we should be allowing seniors and veterans and children to go hungry in this country.
(28:47)
And where are they? The president is in Japan, trying to get people to buy foreign cars. Last week, he was trying to get people to buy Argentine beef. This is not an America First administration, these are not America First policies on behalf of this administration, and what people really care about in Minnesota and across this country is what's happening in their own budgets. And what's happening in their own budgets is that this president's trade wars, attacks on family farmers by decimating the farm economy, is causing farm bankruptcies to dramatically increase across our country. And look, it's a slap in the face to family farmers. Without those farmers, we will not have food security in this country, and this administration needs to step up and do the right thing.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (29:44):
By the way, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program… You know, we just don't sit here and say, "Okay, we're going to pass this law today," and Democrats and Republicans are going to agree to that and the President signs it into the law, and then we say, "Oh, hey, did we really mean to do that, and just to ignore that?" Which is what is happening. It is in the law, and they are violating the law, because they don't have the political will to do it. You know why? Because what they want to do, as Secretary Rollins did this afternoon on TV, is to say that the Democrats are responsible for taking food out of the mouths of children, or some other quite honestly cockamamie excuse that she might have for not following what the law of the land is. But quite frankly, starting with January, there's been an unbelievable violation of the Constitution and the laws of this nation with this administration. But you know, let's stand our ground and let the people know that the money is there. They need to wave their magic wand and the money will go out, and in short order we'll be able to get 42 million people fed in the way that the food stamp program has done from its outset.
Mr. Leader (31:09):
Let me thank Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and Congresswoman Angie Craig for their continued leadership. Thank you.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (31:14):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
Oh, this question is for any of the representatives, but now it'll be for you, Leader Jeffreys.
Mr. Leader (31:22):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Mike Johnson and some of his Republican colleagues have pointed out the pain of Americans losing access to nutritional assistance programs, including in his press conference today. Although they do blame Democrats for funding healthcare for who they call illegal aliens, do you think there's going to be any flexibility for them in meeting with Democrats to address this issue, given they've talked about it?
Mr. Leader (31:42):
The Republicans passed their one big ugly bill in July, and that bill hurts everyday Americans to reward their billionaire donors. And in that bill, they enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. Hospitals, nursing homes, and community-based health centers are closing all across the country, including in Louisiana, because of what Mike Johnson and Republicans did in that one big ugly bill. And at the same time, they cut SNAP benefits by a hundred and eighty-six billion dollars. Donald Trump and Republicans literally ripped food from the mouths of hungry children, seniors, families, and veterans in order to reward their billionaire donors. That's what the one big ugly bill was all about.
(32:34)
And so at this moment in time, these Republicans have zero credibility as it relates to the issues connected to healthcare and SNAP, because the American people have already seen what Republican policies look like, and that's ripping healthcare away from millions of Americans and doing the same thing as it relates to nutritional assistance. Our position
Mr. Leader (33:00):
… continues to be clear. Let's sit down. Let's reopen the government. Let's find a path toward a bipartisan spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people. But we have to address the Republican healthcare crisis and the fact that on November 1st, just a few days from now, open enrollment will begin and reality will strike for tens of millions of Americans who receive their health insurance, both from the Affordable Care Act tax credits and beyond, that their health care costs are about to skyrocket. In some cases increase by $10,000 per year, $15,000 per year, more than $20,000 a year. These are working class Americans who are about to be hit with these dramatic increases that they cannot afford, and that's why Democrats continue to be in this fight until we win this fight.
Speaker 5 (34:02):
Thank you, Leader Jefferies. The House Oversight Committee released their report into former President Biden's autopen use and the probe that they investigated. And Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the DOJ will initiate a review of the Biden administration's reported use of the autopen for pardons. Can I get your reaction to that?
Mr. Leader (34:22):
The so-called Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, James Comer, continues to behave like a malignant clown. We can't point to a single thing that he's actually done to make life better for the American people. Here's what he should investigate, if he's investigating presidents or former presidents. Investigate the fact that Donald Trump promised that costs would go down on day one. He promised, Donald Trump, repeatedly that costs would go down on day one. Costs haven't gone down. They're going up. Inflation moving in the wrong direction, as evidenced by the most recent report that was just issued last week. Housing costs are up, grocery costs are up, childcare costs are up, electricity bills are through the roof.
(35:09)
And now because of the Republican's refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, tens of millions of Americans are about to experience dramatic increases in their healthcare costs that will force medical bankruptcy on many of them. Or they'll have to make a choice between going to see a doctor, putting clothing on their back, paying the rent or mortgage, or putting food on the table. This is what's happening in the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world. If James Comer wants to investigate something, investigate Donald Trump's lie that he was going to lower costs on day one.
Speaker 6 (35:52):
Thank you, Leader. I have two questions. The first is about the federal workers largest union's letter earlier this week. Does this give you any concern that that'll put pressure on Senate Democrats to cave? And then the second question is about Mamdani. Obviously, you've given him his endorsement. Do you encourage Leader Schumer to do the same?
Mr. Leader (36:16):
I issued a statement with respect to the mayor's race in New York City last Friday. That statement speaks for itself. In terms of the current situation that we find ourselves in relative to hard-working federal employees, we support them and we'll continue to stand by them. The Trump administration has fired or let go more than 200,000 hard-working federal civil servants this year prior to the shutdown that they're visiting on the American people. That's what the Trump administration has done this year, fired more than 200,000 hard-working federal employees.
(36:58)
They have been targeting civil servants from the very beginning of this presidency. In fact, members of the Trump administration have said publicly that they want to traumatize federal employees. That's what they've said. That's what the OMB Director said. So our position will remain consistent. We want to reopen the government. We want to make sure that every single federal employee gets paid, both the ones who are furloughed and the ones who are essential workers who have been forced by this Trump administration to work without pay because Donald Trump and Republicans continue to keep the government shut down.
(37:40)
We know that's their position because House Republicans have canceled votes for five consecutive weeks. We know that's the Republican position because the Senate Republican Leader continues to bring the same partisan Republican spending bill to the floor for a vote. It's now been brought to the floor 13 times, and it's went down to defeat 13 times because Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats partnering with House Democrats have continued to take the same position. We will not support a partisan Republican spending bill that guts the healthcare of the American people. Third row.
Speaker 7 (38:23):
Thanks, Sir. I'm curious for your reaction to reports that DHS has purged senior ICE officials and wants to replace them with border patrol. Are you concerned that this might signal a shift in how the administration is approaching deportations?
Mr. Leader (38:37):
Well, our view with respect to the immigration issue generally is that we support a safe and a strong and a secure border at all times. And that will continue to be important. We have a broken immigration system and it needs to be fixed. It needs to be fixed in a comprehensive and bipartisan way. At the same period of time, the American people are understandably horrified at the extremism that the Department of Homeland Security has unleashed on law-abiding immigrant families and communities, separating hardworking mothers from their children in many instances, children who are American citizens. And so it's our hope that if there's going to be a change in personnel, it's actually to enact a more humane approach rather than what we've seen in community after community throughout the country, including in the Chicago area, which is rightly turning off the American people to the extreme immigration policies of Donald Trump and the Republicans. Yep.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (39:55):
Do you believe Eleanor Holmes Norton should retire given mounting concerns over her mental fitness for office?
Mr. Leader (40:02):
I have not had a recent conversation with Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. Obviously, she's had a legendary career. Ultimately, it's going to be her decision and the people of the District of Columbia to make that decision as to whose best positioned to represent their interests moving forward. Thanks.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (40:20):
Just piggybacking off of an earlier question, regarding the federal workers union, Speaker Johnson earlier today, reportedly on the call with his conference indicated that he thought that that pressure and the SNAP benefits would force Democrats hand to adjust. What's your response to his supposition that this may change things? And in your mind, is there an offering?
Mr. Leader (40:44):
Well, Democrats are going to continue to stand up for hardworking federal employees as we've done throughout the year in the face of the relentless targeting of civil servants by Donald Trump and his administration. Federal employees know who stands on their side. It's us, House and Senate Democrats. They've lived the experience of the Trump administration going after them in the most horrific ways possible since January twentieth. And we as House and Senate Democrats are going to continue to stand up for them. We're going to continue to stand up for nutritional assistance. It's the Republicans who cut $186 billion, the largest cut to SNAP in American history.
(41:31)
They just did this, in July as part of their one big ugly bill so they could reward their billionaire donors and continue to subsidize the lifestyles of the rich and shameless. It's out of control. That's their track record. That's the Republican track record. And of course, we're going to continue to stand up for the healthcare of the American people. And I don't know why Republicans think this is a game. This is not a game. This is about the health and the well-being economically of the American people. And Democrats are going to stay in this fight until we win this fight for working class Americans, for middle class Americans, and for hard-working American taxpayers. Thank you all.
Speaker 5 (42:20):
Thank you.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (42:20):
Thank you.