Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MSNBC’s The Weekend, where he emphasized that while Republicans remain on vacation, Democrats are ready to negotiate a spending agreement that ends the Republican government shutdown and healthcare crisis.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Joining us is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of the great state of New York. Leader Jeffries, thank you for coming to The Weekend. So votes have been canceled for Tuesday through Friday. Speaker Johnson is not bringing the House back to order, not having Republicans come back to town. Is he making a tactical mistake by keeping Republicans out of the House? Wouldn’t it put pressure on you and the Democratic Caucus if they were in Washington and putting the screws to you guys to come to the table and either negotiate or push you to give him the votes, give Republicans the votes they need to get that CR over the finish line?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, the pressure continues to be on Republicans, because this is a Trump-Republican shutdown. And Democrats, from the very beginning, have made clear that we will sit down with anyone, anytime, anyplace, including on Capitol Hill, or go back to the White House, in order to reopen the government, in order to enact a spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people and to address the Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating people from all across the country. House Republicans canceled votes last week, canceled votes this week and now they’ve canceled votes next week. They’re running scared. They don’t know what to do. They’re unwilling to address the crisis that they’ve created. Largest cut to Medicaid in American history. Hospitals, nursing homes, community-based health centers all across the country closing because of what Republicans did in their One Big Ugly Bill. And now they are refusing to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which means tens of millions of Americans are going to experience dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles, paying thousands of dollars per year more for their health insurance, which they will not be able to afford.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Leader Jeffries, just to follow up, a minute ago, you said, you know, that you guys are there ready to meet anytime, anywhere, you’re willing to go back to the White House. You and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer did go to the White House with Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Thune to meet with the President. I’m just wondering, when you were in that meeting, did you get the sense that President Trump was eager to or would make a deal with you when it comes to at least extending the Obamacare subsidies?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Initially, there was an acknowledgment that something needed to happen with respect to addressing the healthcare of the American people. Now, Republicans didn’t accept the blame for the crisis that they have visited on everyday Americans, and we were very clear this is a Republican-created crisis. But there was some acknowledgment that there was a need to deal with the issue around the Affordable Care Act tax credits in some way, shape or form. Now, the Republicans in that meeting suggested that they had all the time in the world to do something, and that they didn’t need to act now. And our view was that open enrollment starts on November 1st, and notices are going out right now to people all across the country, indicating that their health insurance costs are about to skyrocket in ways that will make things unaffordable for them to be able to even go see a doctor when they need one for themselves, their children and their family. That’s why our position has been clear from the very beginning, House and Senate Democrats holding strong, that we need to address this Republican healthcare crisis, and we need to do it with the fierce urgency of now.

JACKIE ALEMANY: Leader Jeffries, I want to ask you about a refrain that we have heard from Republicans over these past few weeks, that the premiums go to people who are making between $130,000 and $600,000, and that, at the end of the day, that $600K is just too high of a number. Now, look, I have heard, from people who are worried and have already heard from their insurance companies about—who make very minimal income and are worried about losing their healthcare. But what about those families who are making $600,000? I mean, do you agree with some of these Republicans that that max should come down a little bit? Is this a handout to insurance companies?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, that’s a stone-cold lie that Republicans have been telling, and it’s belied by the facts. 93% percent of the people who benefit from the Affordable Care Act tax credits make $63,000 or less, right. Those are working-class Americans, everyday Americans and middle-class Americans. For instance, a couple that makes about $88,000 per year and currently receives Affordable Care Act tax credits—their health insurance is $8,000 a year. That’s already too high. But they can at least afford it, barely, as a result of the Affordable Care Act tax credits. If they go away, those tax credits, that same couple, which makes $88,000 a year, would have to pay $24,000 for health insurance. They can’t afford that. That will medically bankrupt them. Those are the type of people who we are working hard to protect their healthcare.

JACKIE ALEMANY: But Leader, that might be the average, but that doesn’t mean that people who make up to $600,000 a year, that those families who make that kind of money aren’t eligible to receive these premiums.

LEADER JEFFRIES: No, it’s not the average, it’s the overwhelming majority, when you’re talking about 93% of the people make $63,000 or less. That’s the overwhelming majority.

JACKIE ALEMANY: But do you think Democrats could still negotiate to potentially come down on that maximum?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, what we’ve said is that we’re open to evaluate anything that is presented in good faith in terms of adjustments that may be proposed, potentially that come out of the Senate in a bipartisan way. The challenge that we have in the House is that Mike Johnson has basically made clear—we have no interest in doing anything about the healthcare of the American people. In fact, in that White House meeting, he said that healthcare is extraneous. No, healthcare is not extraneous, I pointed out in that White House meeting. It’s central to the well-being of everyday Americans. That’s why Democrats have raised it as an issue that needs to be addressed.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Yeah, so central that even Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is out there saying something needs to be done about this. But you know, Congressman, speaking of good faith, one of the other sticking points that you and other Democrats have made in all of this, healthcare being issue bold number one. But a secondary issue is rescissions and how that is still on the table. Yesterday, Semafor reported about the press, a call that was done between the House Freedom Caucus with the press and I want to read this. On this press call with the House Freedom Caucus, Johnson tells reporters, quote, ‘we worked on rescissions and there will be more of that we expect in the days ahead.’ Leader Jeffries, how can you negotiate with anyone who might agree with you on something on Monday and then by Monday afternoon, once it’s all firm and signed and official, gives the White House the ability to snatch it all back. Is that good faith?

LEADER JEFFRIES: It’s not good faith. At all. And this is part of the challenge as well that we confront at this moment. Now, we’ve said we’ll sit down and try to find a bipartisan path forward to reach a spending agreement that actually improves the quality of life of the American people. But part of that means that there’s got to be enforceability once an agreement is reached that is actually followed by the administration, by the White House and by the Congress. And that’s why in the continuing resolution that was introduced by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee in the House, and her partner Senator Patty Murray, it also includes language to make sure that if we agree upon how taxpayer dollars should be spent to make life better for the American people, then those taxpayer dollars should be spent in that way.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Leader Jeffries, one more question before we have to let you go. New York State Attorney General Letitia James indicted on bank fraud charges. Just your reaction to that and whether this indictment will successfully lead to the prosecution of the state’s chief law enforcement officer.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, Attorney General Tish James, who I’ve known for more than 20 years, is an incredible public servant. She’s strong. She’s brilliant. She’s talented. She’s hardworking. And she’s got great integrity. This indictment is not worth the paper that it is written on. It’s a malicious prosecution, and I believe that it’s going to be dismissed in short order once this case is actually in a court of law. And what this also illustrates is that Donald Trump has spent more time on this revenge tour then on actually driving down the high cost of living that he’s making worse here in the country. He promised to lower costs on day one. Costs aren’t going down. They’re going up. That’s why Democrats are fighting to lower the high costs of living in terms of healthcare or groceries or housing and electricity bills. But instead, Donald Trump is focused on the wrong things. It’s chaos. It’s confusion. It’s crisis. It’s corruption. All day, every day. And that’s why the American people know that under Trump and Republican policies, the country is moving in the wrong direction.

JACKIE ALEMANY: Leader Jeffries, we’re gonna have to leave it there. Thank you so much for joining us and we hope you will come back.

Full interview can be watched here.