Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MS NOW’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki, where he emphasized that Democrats will continue to keep Donald Trump and Republicans accountable for their failure to keep America safe and make life affordable.

JEN PSAKI: Joining me now is House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Leader Jeffries, there is always something crazy to ask you about. So let me start there. I mean, as part of his obsession with pushing through the SAVE America Act, which is so inaccurately named, Trump reportedly told Mike Johnson ‘no one gives a [bleep] about housing.’ What’s your reaction to that?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, you know, it may be the case that Donald Trump’s billionaire friends who hang out with him regularly at Mar-a-Lago don’t care about housing because they own houses all across the country and the world. But everyday Americans certainly care about the cost of housing and the fact that housing costs have skyrocketed out of control both in terms of rent and in terms of the ability of everyday Americans to purchase a first home, which has always been central to the American dream. But you know this is all consistent with the fact that Donald Trump believes the affordability crisis is a hoax. This from the same guy who promised to lower costs on day one, but costs haven’t gone down under Donald Trump’s presidency. They’ve gone up. Housing costs, gone up. Healthcare costs have gone up. Grocery prices have gone up. Now gas prices have gone up. And utility costs have gone up. His presidency has been a complete and total failure.

JEN PSAKI: One of the things that is certainly contributing to that is, of course, the war in Iran that Donald Trump started, that he is continuing to advocate for and seems to have no plan for. Right now, as you know well, Republicans have a historically slim majority in the House. There’s so many people, it feels like there’s a new retirement being announced every single day. I know in the Senate, they are trying to get—to hold them to account by getting them to testify under oath, the key Cabinet members like Hegseth and Rubio. Have you thought about how you can exploit that razor-thin majority, especially as you kind of, especially given the unpopularity of the war in Iran, how costly it is, how much Americans hate it and how there doesn’t seem to be a plan here?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we certainly are going to continue to press for administration figures to show up. In fact, next week upon our returning to Congress, the House Intel Committee will have several members from the administration, in terms of the intelligence officials, testify publicly under oath about threats across the world that are directed to the United States of America. And we will certainly press them about the information that the administration claims to have with respect to whether there was actually any imminent plans for Iran to attack the United States, any suggestion that they had the capacity or capability to actually do it because we’ve seen no evidence to suggest that is true. We’ll press them on Iran’s nuclear aspirations, particularly given the fact that Donald Trump claimed several months ago that the United States had completely and totally obliterated Iran’s nuclear program. Now he’s saying something entirely different. And so, certainly, we will keep our foot on the gas pedal to get answers from the administration because nothing compelling has been forthcoming from this group of people who are really part of the Trump cartel.

JEN PSAKI: Today, as you well know, there were two separate shootings, one at a Michigan synagogue—and this could be something you raise next week, certainly—and another at Old Dominion University in Virginia. And we know there have been, of course, cuts at the FBI. There’s been a redirection of resources at the Department of Homeland Security made by this administration. Kash Patel is apparently training as an MMA fighter. Who knows what’s going on over there. But given the current rise in domestic security threats—what we saw today—given a lot of people watching right now are scared, do you trust that this administration has their eye on the ball here on the threats that are coming in potentially to this country?

LEADER JEFFRIES: No. It’s not clear at all that the administration has actually been focused on making sure that we are as safe and secure here in America, particularly because so many resources over the last 15 or so months from this administration have been directed at flooding ICE and making sure that these agents can be unleashed on American communities using taxpayer dollars to brutalize and kill American citizens, as was the case with Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, and/or violently target law-abiding immigrant families when these extremists are the ones who promise to go after the worst of the worst and to focus only on violent criminals who are here illegally, and they’ve done the exact opposite. And so, the administration has been far too focused on jamming their extreme ideology down the throats of the American people, or doing things like the Trump tariffs, which of course are raising costs on everyday Americans as opposed to actually focusing on driving down the high cost of living, which is the Democratic plan. And so, unfortunately, you’re correct, Jen, that there’s been no evidence in real time that the administration is actually focused on the things that matter. And that’s one of the reasons why the war is so unpopular. And the American people have actually concluded, even in a recent Fox News poll, that this war is not making us safer. In fact, it may be putting us in harm’s way.

JEN PSAKI: Leader Hakeem Jeffries, so much on your plate every day. We’ll be looking forward to watching this hearing next week. Thank you so much for being here with me tonight.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you so much.

Full interview can be watched here.

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