Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MS NOW’s Katy Tur Reports, where he emphasized that Democrats will continue working to hold Donald Trump to account, including on his failed promises to lower costs and keep us out of expensive foreign wars.

KATY TUR: Joining us, House Minority Leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. Really good to have you as always. Thank you for being with us. You had said over the weekend that you’ll cross that bridge when it comes regarding extra money for this war. What are you still taking under consideration?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we’ll meet as a Caucus and have a conversation if the President and administration send up an appropriations bill. But here’s the problem. Donald Trump has entered into this war of choice. They’re spending billions of dollars in the Middle East. Have zero interest—these extremists—in actually trying to lower the high cost of living for the people of this country. In terms of this war of choice, Donald Trump has no clear plan of action, there’s no discernible objective—they shift every day—and there’s no exit strategy to get us out of a conflict when Donald Trump promised as a candidate not to get us into this type of potentially endless war in the Middle East.

KATY TUR: So it sounds like you would vote no to give him more money to keep doing this if there’s no clear objective and he doesn’t know what he’s doing?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well that certainly is the presumption, but I don’t want to get out ahead of the Caucus when we have that conversation. It’s all theoretical right now. What is occurring is that there’s this ongoing war, billions of dollars are being spent, the President has chosen not to try to even make a case to the American people as to why we are involved in this conflict. And, again, the objectives, the rationale shifts every day. One day, its regime change. The next day, it’s because we’ve got to stop Iran, who apparently the President was claiming was on the brink of nuclear weapon capability when just a few months ago he claimed that the nuclear program had been ‘completely and totally obliterated.’ There’s no evidence that the administration has presented to suggest that there was an imminent threat to either the American people at home or our interests in the Middle East. And so there’s a lot that has been left to be desired as it relates to what’s going on in terms of this war of choice that Donald Trump has plunged us into.

KATY TUR: Yeah, and I know Democrats are largely behind the War Powers Act. That has not gone anywhere. Republicans have not supported it. So on the question of funding, which the Democrats are going to need to be involved in, at least in the Senate because of the numbers there—on the question of funding, it seems like that is a moment for Democrats to make a stand on this war. And I know you have to go to your conference, but I wonder what are still the open concerns about not giving additional funding to the Pentagon while we’re in the middle of this? What are the pros and cons, essentially?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, listen, the American people have been very clear. That’s the reason why this war is already deeply unpopular, which is an extraordinary thing. You look at other conflicts, that’s never been the case. But in this particular instance, the American people have been very clear. We’re in the middle of an affordability crisis. I know Donald Trump denies that it exists. In fact, he thinks that the most important thing that Republicans should focus on right now is voter suppression legislation. That’s extraordinary.You got far too many people in this country who are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. They’re working hard, they’re playing by the rules, but they can’t thrive and they can barely survive. So our view is that taxpayer dollars should be spent to make life more affordable for the American people, to bring down housing costs and healthcare costs and the cost of their grocery bills and electricity prices that are skyrocketing through the roof and child care costs which hold so many families back. And that’s what we should be focusing on right now. Now the President, when you take us to war, has a responsibility to the American people to actually make a compelling case as to why our lives are being put at risk at home and particularly our men and women in uniform who are in a theater of war are risking their lives heroically and patriotically and we’ll continue to support them. But the President owes the country a justification and a rationale and that’s been non-existent.

KATY TUR: Yeah so I guess we’re going to wait and see what happens when and if he does come for more money. On the question of affordability, I wonder, what are the—do you have legislative plans already laid out for if the Democrats are able to retake the House, maybe even the Senate, come November? Do you guys have a clear agenda for what you want to start with in order to get this affordability crisis in hand?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, our topline focus clearly has to be to drive down the high cost of living. One, with respect to housing, I think we need to build more housing in order to make sure that we can drop costs so that everyday Americans can afford to both pay their rent, we can bring down the cost of rent by increasing the supply dramatically. We also need to make home ownership, particularly for first-time home buyers, more affordable. So we want to focus on that. We certainly need to bring down the high cost of healthcare and one of the ways in which we can do it, is to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. Now, we’ve managed to do that in the House, but right now John Thune and Senate Republicans are playing games and have refused to do what the American people are demanding, which will bring down healthcare costs and make it more affordable for more than 20 million Americans instantaneously and also have a positive impact on others. Third thing that I would mention, of course, is that we’ve got to ensure that we stop the Trump tariffs. They are increasing costs by thousands of dollars per year on everyday Americans and Congress needs to reclaim that power as opposed to what Republicans have done in the House which is to continue to bury their heads in the sand and be a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump’s extreme agenda.

KATY TUR: What about the DHS funding? There are a lot of folks right now that are not getting paid—Coast Guard, along with TSA, there has been quite a few long lines for travelers at the airport. I know that Democrats believe that should just be taken out of the funding package. We’ll fund the—Democrat, or the Democrats say we’ll fund the Coast Guard. We’ll fund TSA. I’m just not gonna fund DHS. Have you been having conversations with Republicans, fruitful conversations, about stripping those agencies out and just focusing the funding, or the lack thereof, on DHS alone? I mean, I’m sorry, on ICE and CBP alone.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, so there haven’t been any formal conversations recently, but of course, we’re ready to sit down with our Republican colleagues anytime, anyplace in order to make clear that one, ICE needs to be brought under control because right now we have a situation—and the American people know it—taxpayer dollars are being used to brutalize or kill American citizens, including, of course, horrifically, Renee Nicole Goode and Alex Pretti. And we need immigration enforcement in this country that’s fair, that’s just and that’s humane. And we want ICE to be able to conduct itself like every other law enforcement agency in the country. That means we need change that is bold, dramatic, meaningful and transformational. At the same period of time, unfortunately, Republicans in both the House and the Senate have said we would rather shut down FEMA, shut down the Coast Guard and shut down TSA as opposed to reining ICE in. And so we’re going to continue to stand on the side of the American people. And we’re ready, willing and able to move legislation forward. It’s been introduced by Rosa DeLauro in the House and Patty Murray in the Senate. And Republicans are blocking legislation that would fund the other aspects of DHS while we work this situation out in terms of getting ICE under control.

KATY TUR: So is the roadblock John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson? Are those the two people that are refusing to negotiate on this? And if so, have you gone over to the Speaker’s office and said, hey, let’s sit down and try to figure this out? Nobody wants to see these long lines at TSA. Nobody wants Coast Guard employees to go without a paycheck. Everybody wants FEMA to get funded. Let’s get this figured out. After all, ICE and CBP just got a ton of money from the Big Beautiful Bill. It’s not like they need any more.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, what we need to see happen are the type of changes like requiring ICE to get judicial warrants before they can rip everyday Americans out of their homes, make sure there are independent investigations by state and local officials when ICE agents violate the law so they can be held criminally accountable. We need to protect sensitive locations from being targeted by ICE, from law-abiding immigrant families being targeted, of course, in places like schools and hospitals, houses of worship and certainly polling sites which is part of Donald Trump’s voter suppression scheme. There’s a whole list of things that can be done, that need to be done, in order to get ICE under control. And I’ve made that clear repeatedly to Mike Johnson, as Leader Schumer has done with John Thune. Unfortunately, it appears that House and Senate Republicans haven’t been given the green light from Donald Trump—that’s their boss. That’s who they work for, unfortunately, not the American people—to actually sit down and negotiate in good faith.

KATY TUR: Alright, Leader Hakeem Jeffries. I was going to ask you about Kevin Kiley becoming an Independent and what that meant for you, but I’m fresh out of time unless you have a very quick answer for me. Does it mean anything at all?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, he’s got to explain himself to his voters, including his vote on the One Big Ugly Bill, so right now it doesn’t mean much.

KATY TUR: Alright, Leader Jeffries. Thank you so much for joining us as always.

Full interview can be watched here.

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