Hakeem Jeffries Holds Press Conference After Senate Passes ICE Funding Bill

[4:31] does look at my guys and have to leave in the middle when it's getting good [6:21] you're absolutely right Scotty yeah for sure [9:13] some of those are gigantic and they don't clip as well yeah yeah okay great thank you [9:52] but you have any oh you give us the monopod or the tripod yeah that's right okay okay we'll see [9:58] thank you [10:19] your office is super hot christine said the same thing she said she actually was really good because [10:24] her office has been really hot and it was it was worse before i put the fan in and because i had [10:32] you ever call a DOC and ask them you can't because it's the same thing over there you can't bring in [10:38] ductwork in there maybe she said that if you look at her office oh she said she did no i mean [10:55] let me just dump this to you [10:57] so which one does this yeah well that seems to work much better i'll say oh well i didn't know i [11:13] didn't know i didn't know i mean maybe it's all good and this i've had problems with this one [11:18] is it an old phone yeah i'm taking it to bureau and then so they fixed it and they get back to me [11:22] oh yeah i still have the same issues so it's all good okay yeah okay all right so yeah let's get that [11:27] out yep you know if you can get it out yeah yeah just just that's that's the point i mean the other stuff [11:33] is usually but that i'll use right away oh for sure [11:35] it's one of two i went to [11:56] yeah [12:21] begun the hands [12:24] So, yeah, so I was with Carly, I haven't posted any of that stuff in there. [12:29] Basically, I landed back, wow. [12:31] Yeah, perhaps you are, you can go back there. [12:34] You can find me. [12:36] And I left for the airport at 3.30. [12:39] Which means it's about bay, like, for Ukraine. [12:42] So. [12:43] I'm really looking to fly. [12:45] Okay. [12:46] So. [12:47] Oh, sure. [12:48] It's very, very odd. [12:49] Yeah. [12:50] There are two places to fly. [12:54] It's in Warsaw, or it's called. [12:58] If you read it, it's in Warsaw. [13:03] It's supposed to be about 12 hours, but going there, it's almost 17 on a train. [13:19] It was. [13:20] Fair. [13:21] It was surprisingly well. [13:22] Because it was, because it's an overnight, you have like a little, I mean, I'll eventually, [13:29] I'm going to post all of the video content first. [13:32] Oh, so we'll do that. [13:33] That's what I thought. [13:34] Sorry. [13:35] So what's here? [13:37] Oh, so we'll see you. [13:38] Sorry. [13:39] Sorry. [13:41] Sorry. [13:42] Yeah. [13:43] Yeah. [13:45] Right. [13:46] Yeah. [13:47] Yeah. [13:48] That's right. [13:49] Yeah. [13:50] Yeah. [13:52] Yeah. [13:53] Oh, that's so sweet. [14:06] Yeah, yeah, go, go, go, of course. [14:10] Yeah, absolutely. [14:11] Okay, cool. [14:14] Okay. [14:23] Yeah, I know that he'll know, I know, I was going to call him, but he needs to be, I need to talk to him. [14:40] Okay. [14:40] Okay. [14:44] Okay. [14:49] Okay. [14:53] I'm going to do it today. [14:55] Oh, I understand the mic. [14:59] Thank you. [15:01] Okay. [15:06] Okay. [15:16] Okay. [15:18] Okay. [15:19] Pretty much. [15:22] You feel anxiety. [15:23] It gets too much. [15:24] We have to do an RCP for our own. [15:27] Oh, they're on the board, but most people are on the board. [15:32] Yeah. [15:32] Yeah. [15:33] Yeah. [15:33] Yeah. [15:34] Yeah. [15:34] Please. [15:35] Thank you. [15:35] And give me one. [15:38] Yes. [15:39] Yes. [15:39] Yes. [15:40] Yes. [15:41] Yes. [15:41] Yes. [15:42] Yes. [15:43] Yes. [15:44] Yes. [15:45] Yes. [15:46] Yes. [15:47] Yes. [15:48] Yes. [15:49] Yes. [15:50] Yes. [15:51] Yes. [15:52] Yes. [15:53] Yes. [15:54] Yes. [15:55] Yes. [15:56] Yes. [15:57] Yes. [15:58] Yes. [15:59] Yes. [16:00] Yes. [16:01] Yes. [16:02] Yes. [16:03] Yes. [16:04] Yes. [16:05] Yes. [16:06] Yes. [16:07] Yes. [16:08] Yes. [16:09] Yes. [16:10] Yes. [16:11] Yes. [16:12] Yes. [16:13] Yes. [16:14] Yes. [16:15] Yes. [16:16] Yes. [16:17] Yes. [16:18] Yes. [16:19] Yes. [16:20] Yes. [16:21] Yes. [16:22] Yes. [16:23] Yes. [16:24] Thank you. [16:25] You can do it. [16:26] Thank you. [16:27] I've been doing a lot of that. [16:28] It's good. [16:29] It's a critical. [16:30] I see it now. [16:31] It's great. [16:32] It's a great policy. [16:33] I see it now. [16:34] It's a lot more in the policy. [16:39] Yeah. [16:40] Yeah. [16:41] We're going in like the … [16:46] I'm going from like … [16:49] I don't like the procedure so much where they get the big ideas and just like … [16:56] Yeah. [16:57] Yeah. [16:58] A lot more. [16:59] We can do that. [17:00] I think it's good. [17:01] All right. [17:02] You got it. [17:03] I know we did. [17:04] I know the ethos. [17:06] That was it. [17:07] Right. [17:08] You're right. [17:09] It's probably not. [17:10] It's less on TV. [17:11] Yeah. [17:12] Yeah. [17:13] Probably not. [17:14] Yeah, yeah. [17:15] That's true, too. [17:16] She's a total of two hours. [17:17] She's got it. [17:18] No, I'm a little bit. [17:19] You're a little bit. [17:20] Yeah, that's true, too. [17:23] She's got it. [17:24] She's got it. [17:25] She's got it. [17:26] No, it's known you out there. [17:29] That's what's wrong. [17:34] Yeah, she's a good job, honestly. [17:39] I'm sorry, I don't anticipate anything, I'm afraid about it, so, I'm just trying to learn from that. [17:46] There he is! That's hard work! [17:53] Well, it's funny, because when he got settled... [18:02] Is he on your team or is he just... [18:06] He's politics, so he's in elections, so it's me, Kevin, me and Kevin... [18:12] I bet she's a part-time, she does a show also. [18:15] Oh, right, right, right. [18:17] And then, I'm going to say it is our house. [18:20] Phone, phone. Yeah, exactly. [18:23] It's a pretty small team, but it works, it works. [18:28] And they're great, they work. [18:34] They're really experienced. [18:38] So, yeah, we can have our bases covered. [18:40] It's definitely a lot. It's a nice size team. [18:42] Yeah, it's decent. It works. [18:44] I'm like, wow, this is a sweet thing! [18:46] You guys are, you guys have a great routine. [18:49] Six or seven? Yeah. [18:52] Bam! [18:54] What's his face? [18:58] Yeah, I met him. Wow, he seems great. [19:00] He's doing pretty good. [19:02] He gets it. He gets it. [19:04] He's, like, extremely talented. [19:06] Just, like, a copy editor, a dance guy. [19:10] Mm-hmm. [19:11] It's, like, fun. [19:12] I can't get back. [19:13] Yeah. [19:14] I can't get back. [19:15] I can't get back. [19:16] I can't get back. [19:17] Really? [19:18] Yeah. [19:19] Really? [19:20] Good. [19:21] General, like, feedback to the whole team. [19:23] Mm-hmm. [19:25] That's great. [19:26] Yeah, no, it's nice. [19:27] It's just, like, work. [19:28] Yeah, you have to get it at the hospital. [19:30] Yeah, yeah. [19:31] And he's, like, very intentionally trying to avoid that. [19:35] Which I had heard was a thing up here. [19:39] I had heard. [19:41] It's not really my source, but I had heard that it was a thing. [19:44] It's, like, like, 15. [19:46] Yeah. [19:48] Yeah. [19:50] Yeah. [19:51] Yeah. [19:52] Yeah. [19:53] Yeah. [19:54] Yeah. [19:55] Yeah. [19:56] Yeah. [19:57] Yeah. [19:58] Yeah. [20:00] Yeah. [20:01] Yeah. [20:02] Yeah. [20:04] Yeah. [20:05] Yeah. [20:06] Yeah. [20:07] Yeah. [20:08] And it's great talking about that. [20:10] Yeah. [20:11] It was great. [20:12] It was great. [20:13] Good for you. [20:14] Thank you. [20:23] This is a good morning, guys. [20:24] It's a good night. [20:26] Good night. [20:27] Yeah. [20:29] Yeah. [20:30] I think that's super good. [20:31] The hard stuff is amazing, you know. [20:33] And, did you show the work so much? [20:36] I'm really glad that I was right under. [20:38] I would have to start. [20:39] I was just going. [20:40] I was in my mind on my day as something not until 1 o'clock. [20:43] It is tough. [20:44] You need a pocket. [20:45] So it's tough. [20:46] He's in the green room, everybody. [21:29] Here's his undergrad later. [21:31] Here's his senior? [21:36] No. [21:37] You have a master's? [21:38] Yeah. [21:40] 30 years ago. [21:46] It seems like a good idea. [21:49] I know. [21:50] Maybe we can go back. [21:54] Oh, oh, oh, no. [22:13] Eyes up. [22:19] Good afternoon, everyone. [22:31] Good afternoon, everyone. [22:33] Wow. [22:34] It will be a good night, though. [22:36] That's the question. [22:37] I'm definitively not calling on that. [22:41] From the very beginning of this Congress, [22:45] House Democrats have made clear [22:48] that the cost of living in the United States of America [22:51] is far too high, [22:53] and that Donald Trump promised to lower costs on day one. [22:58] But costs having gone down in the United States of America, [23:01] costs have gone up. [23:03] Grocery prices are too high. [23:07] Housing costs are too high. [23:09] Health care costs are too high. [23:12] Utility bills are too high. [23:15] Gas prices are out of control. [23:18] America is far too expensive. [23:21] And Donald Trump hasn't made the situation better. [23:26] He's made the situation worse. [23:29] The Trump tariffs have increased costs on everyday Americans by thousands of dollars per year. [23:36] The Republican assault on the health care of the American people has caused health insurance costs to skyrocket. [23:47] And at the same period of time, Donald Trump's reckless and costly war of choice in Iran has resulted in gas prices through the roof. [24:00] America is far too expensive. [24:04] There are far too many people in this country who are working hard. [24:07] They're playing by the rules, but they're unable to thrive and they can barely survive. [24:12] And that's not acceptable in the United States of America. [24:16] So House Democrats are going to continue to fight to drive down the high cost of living and push back against the Republican efforts to make life more expensive. [24:29] We believe that taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for the American people, not give ICE another $70 billion blank check so they can unleash brutality on American citizens and violently target law-abiding immigrant communities. [24:56] House Democrats will be a hard no on the reckless Republican budget reconciliation bill this week. [25:08] Are you willing to see the expiration of these authorities under FISA if Bill Polsky is still the acting PNI? [25:18] There were already challenges as it related to extending foreign surveillance authority. [25:30] given the refusal by the Trump administration to put into place the type of common sense reforms that would be designed to both promote our national security interests on the one hand, [25:43] and on the other, protect the privacy and civil liberties of the American people. [25:48] The negotiations prior to Trump's announcement with respect to Bill Polsky were already in a very sensitive place. [25:59] And then Donald Trump, as he often does, tosses a hand grenade into those sensitive negotiations by elevating Bill Polsky as the director of national intelligence. [26:13] Someone who's a political hack, a malignant clown, and he's woefully unqualified to serve in any position in the federal government, let alone as acting director of national intelligence. [26:30] Would you let it expire? [26:31] Would you let it expire? [26:32] There are ongoing conversations being led by Jim Hines, but clearly to get to good faith negotiations, the effort to elevate Bill Polsky as the acting director of national intelligence should be reversed immediately. [26:52] And then let's see where we wind up at the end of the week. [26:58] What do you make of efforts by some House Republicans to impeach Judge Eleanor Ross of Georgia? [27:04] I have not closely followed those efforts, but listen, House Republicans have been a failure, a complete and total disaster. [27:17] These people have done nothing to make life better for the American people. [27:22] They just run around behaving like sycophants and wholly owned subsidiaries of the Trump cartel. [27:29] Nothing but reckless rubber stamps for Donald Trump's extreme agenda. [27:34] That's why Donald Trump is so deeply unpopular. [27:37] That's why House Republicans are on the brink of losing their majority in November, which is going to happen. [27:44] Mr. Leader, good afternoon, thank you. [27:46] The House Republicans on the Oversight Committee have released this report on fraud in Minnesota, targeting Tim Wolves, targeting Keith Ellison. [27:55] Do you think that this is just about trying to get those two figures? [27:59] Or do you think that there's actually something that Ellison and Wolves have to say for themselves? [28:03] House Republicans are not serious about rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the United States of America. [28:08] Do you know why? [28:09] Because the biggest fraud being perpetrated on the people of this country right now is coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. [28:17] From the very beginning of his presidency, Donald Trump has been running the largest pay-to-play scheme in the history of America, all designed to enrich himself, his family, his friends, and his billionaire MAGA donors. [28:35] The whole thing is out of control. [28:37] And if House Republicans were actually serious about protecting taxpayer dollars, if they really wanted to drain the swamp, you know where they would start? [28:46] At the White House, because that's the swamp in the United States of America. [28:51] And anything else right now that they're trying to do on the Oversight Committee or on any other committee is just trying to distract the American people from the fact that the Republican-controlled Congress has failed on the economy, failed on health care, failed on immigration, [29:10] and failed on matters of war and peace by getting us into this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran. [29:20] Thanks, Leader Jeffries. [29:21] Just to follow up on Manu's question, is reversing the Bill Pulte appointment a requirement to get your support for a FISA extension? [29:29] Reversing the Bill Pulte appointment is a starting point, not an ending point. [29:34] It's a step in the right direction because it reverses something that is clearly out of bounds, unacceptable, and cannot be allowed to occur. [29:47] That's not just the House Democratic caucus position. [29:50] The Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, has said that Bill Pulte is not qualified to be the Acting Director of National Intelligence. [30:01] But is there any scenario where you would support an extension if Bill Pulte were still the Acting DNI? [30:06] No. [30:07] Thank you, Mr. Leader. [30:10] I want to ask you about a letter you signed on to that the Congressional Black Caucus sent to corporations two weeks ago, asking them to step up and get involved in the redistricting efforts across the South. [30:22] Tomorrow is the deadline. [30:23] I'm curious to know what your reaction will be. [30:27] I know you don't speak on behalf of the caucus, but I'm curious your reaction if you all don't hear back from these corporations. [30:32] And also, you've spoken about cleaning up corruption if Democrats win back the House in November. [30:37] Do corporations fit into this conversation around corruption, around the moves that they have or haven't made with regard to diversity, equity, inclusion? [30:48] Just can you talk about kind of where you all will fit corporations into the conversation in November and beyond if you all win back the House? [30:56] Well, we'll have a responsibility in the majority to both serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch. [31:07] And that's what we will do as House Democrats when we hold the gavels. [31:14] But at the same period of time, to make sure that any corporation that has participated in criminality in Donald Trump's pay-to-play scheme and, as a result, has utilized taxpayer-funded initiatives in ways that aren't consistent with the public interest, that they should be scrutinized as well. [31:46] And they will. [31:50] In terms of the CBC letter to corporations, I, of course, have supported that effort. [31:58] But I'll defer to Chairwoman Yvette Clark in terms of the leadership around it. [32:03] Other than to say that everybody has a responsibility in this moment. [32:08] People have to choose. [32:10] Are we going to move the country forward or are we going to turn back the clock? [32:14] Do we want to further build and sustain a multiracial democracy in America as we celebrate our 250th birthday? [32:26] Or are we trying to go back to the Jim Crow era? [32:29] And we believe that in this moment, silence is complicity. [32:36] And those who are choosing to bury their heads in the sand, we are taking notice of what is occurring. [32:47] And those folks will have a lot of questions that will need to be answered. [32:54] I asked you the other week about Debbie Wasserman Schultz and whether you're going to back a re-election. [33:00] You said you didn't have an update. [33:01] I'm curious, as we approach the primary date in Florida, whether you have an update on that race. [33:05] We're working on the primary date that is now inside of two and a half weeks in New York. [33:13] And obviously, there are some very competitive primaries, some of which I've gotten involved in. [33:19] And so our focus right now is on those primaries. [33:23] And then, of course, there are a handful of primaries in July. [33:27] And then we'll get to the Florida primaries. [33:29] But Debbie Wasserman Schultz has been a highly productive, hardworking, conscientious member of the House Democratic Caucus [33:41] for more than 20 years and is now a very important member of the leadership team. [33:48] And I'll leave it at that. [33:50] As Democrats consider their governing agenda, can you provide an update on what a potential HR1 would look like? [33:58] And what personally are your priorities to include in the first bill of a Democratic majority? [34:02] We're in the midst of having that conversation right now as a caucus. [34:06] And we look forward to leaning in to those discussions. [34:11] And it's going to be maximum engagement as it relates to ensuring that every part of the caucus has input on the governing agenda. [34:22] But it is going to focus on affordability. [34:27] We believe, every single one of us, that the cost of living in this country is far too high. [34:32] And that we need to make life more affordable for hardworking American taxpayers, for working-class folks, for middle-class folks, [34:39] and for everyone who aspires to be part of the middle-class. [34:41] Because in this great country of ours, we think if you work hard and you play by the rules, you should be able to live a comfortable life, a good life, an affordable life. [34:56] Good paying job, good housing, good healthcare, good education for your children, and then when it's all said and done, a good retirement. [35:02] That's the American dream. [35:04] But it's out of reach for far too many people in this country, of every race, every religion, and from every region. [35:14] And as a result, we're all in in turning the situation around. [35:18] So to be clear on HR1, your expectation is that it would be focused on affordability? [35:23] We're having that conversation right now, but I think it's fair to say that when we look at the legislation that we're going to lean into, including but not limited to HR1, [35:36] it will be hyper-focused on driving down the high cost of living and, of course, fixing our broken healthcare system as a part of that. [35:45] You're a big Knicks fan, obviously. President Trump is going to the game tonight. Your reaction to that? [35:50] So I've had a few things to say about Donald Trump going to the Knicks game. [35:56] And, you know, at this point, it's game day, and I think Knicks fans just want to enjoy Game 3, the first home game that we've had in 27 years. [36:09] But it also is not clear to me that Donald Trump is a big Knicks fan. [36:14] I mean, does this guy even know the difference between Karl Rove and Karl-Anthony Towns? [36:22] I don't think so. He's just injecting himself into the NBA Finals because he always has to bring the MAGA circus into town. [36:38] That's unfortunate. Thank you, everyone. [36:43] Thank you. [36:44] Thank you.