Yesterday, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on WISN’s UPFRONT and highlighted the Democratic agenda to push back against the chaos, confusion and cruelty being visited on Wisconsinites and the American people because of the Republican healthcare crisis.

MATT SMITH: We’ll get to it all. We begin with the Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Mr. Leader, good to see you. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you so much for having me on.

MATT SMITH: Let’s begin here. Both sides, as you well know, are seeming incredibly dug in at this point. More Wisconsinites now starting to feel the impact. How much pain are you allowing for this to go before Democrats would ever consider supporting now a clean funding resolution?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, our view from the very beginning, as Democrats, has been we want to reopen the government. We want to enact a bipartisan spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the people of Wisconsin and the people of this great country, while at the same time decisively addressing the Republican healthcare crisis, where we’ve seen Republicans enact the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. We know hospitals and nursing homes and community-based health centers are closing all across the country because of what happened in that One Big Ugly Bill and now, unfortunately, Republicans are refusing to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits and that’s going to result in tens of millions of Americans, including many people throughout Wisconsin, experiencing dramatically increased healthcare premiums that will be unaffordable.

MATT SMITH: So to negotiate that point blank, is there any scenario you would back a clean funding resolution?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we’ve said from the beginning that a bipartisan spending bill requires Republicans to sit down with Democrats to reopen the government. But unfortunately, during this shutdown, Republicans have actually refused to have a conversation with us as Democrats, and all we’ve asked for is to try to find common ground so we can improve the lives of the American people in an environment where the cost of living has been way too high for far too many people. We know that Donald Trump promised to lower the high cost of living on day one, but unfortunately, costs aren’t going down, they’re going up. These are issues that the American people understandably want the Congress to address, but in order for that to happen, we have to enter into a bipartisan negotiation.

MATT SMITH: So no scenario you would support a clean funding resolution?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, in our view, a clean spending bill requires Republicans drop their [effort] to continue to gut the healthcare of the American people. 

GERRON JORDAN: So, Leader, your goal is to bring Republicans to the table here to extend Obamacare subsidies. Is it fair to say that at this point that strategy is just not working?

LEADER JEFFRIES: I think it’s fair to say that tens of millions of people across the country who have been receiving notices over the last few weeks consistently have communicated with the Congress—this is both Democrats and Republicans across the country—making it clear that we need to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the most conservative Republicans in the Congress, has made clear that this is a real issue. It’s going to impact her constituents. We know, in fact, that the five states that will be most impacted by the Republican refusal to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits are Republican-held states. That’s West Virginia, Wyoming, Alaska, Tennessee and Mississippi. 45 percent of the people throughout the country who receive Affordable Care Act tax credits are actually registered Republicans. Only 35 percent are Democrats and 20 percent Independents. So this is not a partisan fight for us. It’s a fight for the people of Wisconsin and a fight for the people of the United States of America. Working-class people, middle-class people and everyday Americans.

GERRON JORDAN: This past week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said most people on Obamacare would still have access to plans that cost $50 a month or less, even if the enhanced subsidies aren’t extended. Is that reasonable for you?

LEADER JEFFRIES: That’s a stone-cold lie and the American people know it because they are receiving notices as we speak indicating that if the Affordable Care Act tax credits expire, their premiums are going to increase in some cases by a thousand or two thousand dollars per month. So this is not a debatable issue and Republican Members of Congress including Derrick Van Orden are hearing from their own constituents that something needs to be done to address this issue. And unfortunately, Republicans have refused to extend these Affordable Care Act tax credits when more than 90% of the people who receive them make about $63,000 or less. This is a fight for working-class Americans in Wisconsin and throughout the country.

GERRON JORDAN: When do you plan to talk with Speaker Johnson next or any Senate leaders?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Speaker Johnson and I had a brief conversation yesterday. We reiterated our openness as Democrats to sit down with him or any Republican, anytime, anyplace, either at the Capitol or we’ll go back to the White House in order to negotiate a bipartisan spending agreement that reopens the government, that ends this, you know, Trump shutdown.

MATT SMITH: If you get that meeting in the coming days with the President or Republican leaders, what are you prepared to concede in negotiations?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, again, you know, everything is on the table and as we’ve indicated, as House Democrats, we look forward to considering anything that emerged from the Senate in good faith in a bipartisan way, as long as it actually is designed to improve the quality of life of the American people in three areas: their health, their public safety and our economic well-being in terms of driving down the high cost of living in Wisconsin and throughout America.

MATT SMITH: So why not just reopen the government, then negotiate healthcare?

LEADER JEFFRIES: I think the problem with Republicans is that they’ve repeatedly failed to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. They voted against it multiple times throughout this year while at the same period of time enacting the One Big Ugly Bill, which put into place the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. And it’s also important to remember on this healthcare issue that Republicans have voted more than 70 times since 2010 to repeal the Affordable Care Act. And so, I think it’s reasonable to conclude that if Republicans decided that the wealthiest people in this country, that their billionaire donors, should benefit from permanent tax breaks, that at this moment in time where the Affordable Care Act tax credits are about to expire, that working-class Americans, middle-class Americans and everyday Americans in Wisconsin and throughout the country should have a similar level of certainty, particularly as we approach open enrollment or are in the open enrollment period and the reality of these massive healthcare premium increases is going to hit people like a rock.

MATT SMITH: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Mr. Leader, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you very much.

Full interview can be watched here.

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