DPCC Co-Chair Jeffries: House Democrats Will Bring the Hopes and Aspirations of the American People to Life
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) and Democratic Caucus Chair-designee, appeared on New Day on CNN to discuss the chaos, crisis and confusion caused by the Trump Administration and how Democrats are going to enact the For the People Agenda. Below are excerpts from the interview. Click here to watch the video.
"Well I don't know much about the leading contender, but I can say as it relates to John Kelly, it's been a tremendous disappointment. He had done a lot for our country in terms of his service prior to arriving at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Once he arrived there, he has been a total disaster. He was supposed to try to change the chaos, crisis and confusion that has been the Trump Administration from day one, but it's really just gone from bad to worse. And, at the end of the day, his tenure should be judged based on output. And, the only legislative thing they have accomplished in the first two years has been a tax scam where 83% of the benefits went to the wealthiest 1%, exploded our debt - and they are going to try to stick senior citizens with the bill and young people in terms of trying to strip away Social Security and Medicare. So, we'll see what comes next. But, by any objective standard, it's been a failed tenure for John Kelly."
"That's not clear because the President does tend to want to have people around him who are sycophants, who don't necessarily disagree with him or who are individuals who weren't able to steer him in the right direction. That's been unfortunate. Hopefully, that will change because we're committed to enacting our For the People agenda as House Democrats and to work with the White House and the Senate in order to get things done like lowering the high cost of prescription drugs or real infrastructure plans."
"I think the American people inherently want us to work together in a divided government context. They don't want us to fight from day one, and we can't have the perpetual 24 hour, 7 day a week, 365 day a year campaign. There has to be room to govern. And, if we are going to govern, we are going to have to work together to get things done for working families, for middle class folks, for everyone else."
"It is likely that there will be further evidence, that there was some sort of conspiracy between Russian operatives and high level members of the Trump campaign to sell out our democracy in order to artificially place someone at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We'll see what the facts present and today may be an additional piece to that puzzle. At the end of the day, I think we all have to allow Bob Mueller to do his job. He's doing it in a very thorough, fair and comprehensive fashion. We want to see that continue. And, ultimately, he'll have to present the facts and the evidence to the American people, to the Congress and then we can go from there."
"This is a witch hunt, a kangaroo court and a three-ring circus wrapped into one. And, it is a tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars. We should be trying to find common ground as it relates to solving the pending shut down fight that may occur in the next few weeks and funding our government in a way that allows for us to bring the hopes and aspirations of the American people to life."