Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a press conference where he criticized the Rubber Stamp Republicans for not standing up for the American people while Donald Trump unleashes chaos, cruelty and corruption. 

LEADER JEFFRIES: Good afternoon, everyone. The Trump administration continues to unleash chaos, cruelty and corruption on the American people. Donald Trump and extreme MAGA Republicans have been a complete and total failure domestically and internationally. Donald Trump promised that on day one of his presidency, he would end the war in Ukraine. He promised on day one of his presidency, he would free the hostages to bring about peace in the Middle East. And Donald Trump promised that on day one of his presidency, costs would go down in the United States of America. None of it has happened. Instead, costs in the United States of America aren’t going down, they’re going up. Donald Trump and extreme MAGA Republicans are crashing the economy in real time and driving us toward a possible recession. Donald Trump and House Republicans have not done a single thing to lower the high cost of living in the United States of America. Not a single thing. Instead, Republicans are trying to jam this One Big, Ugly Bill down the throats of the American people.

The GOP Tax Scam represents the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. It’s an all-out assault on the healthcare of the American people. Children, families, people with disabilities, seniors, veterans will all be hurt by the GOP Tax Scam. Premiums, copays and deductibles will go up for tens of millions of Americans. Hospitals will close. Nursing homes will shut down. Community-based health clinics will be unable to operate, and because more than 16 or so million people in America will lose their healthcare, people in this country will die. That’s what Republican governance has brought to the United States of America. The GOP Tax Scam will also cut nutritional assistance from the American people. Children and seniors and older Americans will literally have food ripped away from them. And this all-out assault on healthcare, this all-out assault on nutritional assistance, is being done by Republicans so they can provide their billionaire donors with massive tax breaks that they don’t need and don’t deserve. The one big, ugly Republican bill will hurt everyday Americans in order to reward billionaires.

At the same time, Donald Trump and his actions—which do not appear to be consistent with the United States Constitution—takes unilateral offensive military action without seeking the approval of the United States Congress. The use of military force, which is offensive in nature, must be approved by the House and the Senate. That’s according to the Constitution. It’s not optional, Donald. It’s not. The framers of the Constitution actually gave Congress the power to declare war for a reason. So the American people, through their elected representatives, would have the opportunity to debate the issue and make some decisions as it relates to what’s in the best interest and the national security of the American people. Donald Trump and the administration chose to ignore the Constitution. And so they’re going to have to come before Congress and explain their justification for an offensive military strike against Iran.

Yes, we can never allow Iran to become a nuclear power. And of course, Israel has the right to defend itself, and we’ll support Israel’s security in an ironclad manner. But the Trump administration intentionally decided to ignore the aggressive diplomacy that was available to it, to try to address the Iranian nuclear threat and ignore the requirements of the Constitution, and now they’ve got to explain why. And we expect that justification, not just at the classified briefing behind closed doors tomorrow, but we expect them to explain to the American people the basis of the strike. What were the results in terms of actually thwarting Iran’s capacity to become a nuclear power? And what are the Trump administration’s plans to avoid another potentially disastrous war in the Middle East, with thousands of American lives are potentially at risk? What is your plan to avoid another foreign war, a promise you made, a promise that Donald Trump made to the American people last year? And just like every other major promise that he made on the campaign trail, he’s failed to keep.

Full press conference can be watched here.

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