Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on ABC’s This Week, where he emphasized that with strong majorities in the House and the Senate, Democrats are committed to making life more affordable for the American people and holding the corrupt crooks accountable.

JONATHAN KARL: We begin with the man expected to become Speaker of the House in January, Hakeem Jeffries. Leader Jeffries, thank you for joining us.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Good morning. Great to be with you.

JONATHAN KARL: Obviously, a huge election for you. Have you spoken to President Trump yet?

LEADER JEFFRIES: I have not spoken to President Trump. It was a big night for the American people, a tremendous repudiation of MAGA extremism and a cry out for dramatic change in terms of the direction that we need to take to make life more affordable for the American people, to restore American values and, of course, to hold those who have visited unprecedented corruption on the American people accountable.

JONATHAN KARL: I mean, usually, at this point, I would have expected that the President would have reached out to the Democratic leaders. He hasn’t called you? Have you tried to call him, or will you try to call? I mean, you’re going to have to deal with him.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we’ll see what happens in terms of moving forward. But I have spoken to three former presidents, and I’m thankful for those conversations—of course, President Obama, President Biden and President Clinton, and many other leaders across the nation. And, most importantly, I’ve had the chance to speak to everyday Americans who were the ones that powered this election and want us to actually deliver a Congress that no longer functions like a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump’s extreme agenda, but functions like a separate and coequal branch of government designed to make life better for the American people.

JONATHAN KARL: It was interesting to see the President’s response to all of this. He didn’t cry fraud. He didn’t challenge the results, contest the results, not immediately anyway. And when I spoke to him shortly after Tuesday, he said to me, ‘I think we can get along. It’s good for the country if we do. The country has had enough.’ Obviously, he’s sent some different signals since then. But what’s your sense? Are you going to be able to work with him?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, the country clearly has had enough. And we’ve got to fight for an affordable America. The cost of living is way too high. There are far too many people in this country who are working hard, they’re playing by the rules, they can’t thrive and they can barely survive. People are drowning in this failed Republican economy. And enough is enough in that regard. That’s why we’re going to fight to lower the high cost of living on all the things. And we have to. We’ve got to fight to lower groceries and gas and housing, and certainly we’ve got to fight to make healthcare affordable for every single American. Now we’ll see whether our colleagues on the other side of the aisle actually are willing to listen to the American people so we can work to get things done. The good news is, Jonathan, that we’ve got a robust majority in a Democratic House and a robust majority in a Democratic Senate to be able to get to work.

JONATHAN KARL: So what is the goal? There’s kind of, there are two approaches you can take, oversimplifying a bit here. But you can pass legislation that you think the President might sign, or you can pass a whole series of bills that you know he’s going to veto. What’s the approach?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, the American people clearly want change that’s bold, change that’s transformational and change that is dramatic. They also want results because relief needs to come to the fact that so many people are struggling throughout this nation. And that’s everywhere. That’s in urban America, in rural America, in small-town America, in the heartland of America and in Black and Brown communities all throughout America. So from our standpoint, we want to do things like end this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has made life way too expensive. We need to stop the Trump Tariffs. We need to reverse the Medicaid cuts that put the health insurance of millions of Americans at risk and threatens to close hospitals all over the place. We certainly need to reverse the SNAP cuts. And we need to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. And hopefully, we’ll see some courage by a few of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to work on these issues to get things done.

JONATHAN KARL: And the only way, ultimately, you get things done is if either he signs them or you get a lot of colleagues on the other side of the aisle to overturn his vetoes. There are a couple of things that I see where you could potentially get him to sign. I mean, President Trump asked Congress back in January to cap credit card interest rates at 10%. He also pushed for most-favored-nation status pricing on prescription drugs. And Republicans, Republicans never acted on either one of those. So will you—are those two areas where you could see passing bills in those two areas and saying, go ahead, Mr. President, sign it?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we certainly need to provide credit card relief to the American people and we need to lower the high cost of healthcare across the board, and we look forward to working on those issues. There have been a lot of Democratic bills that have been put into the public domain, a lot of Democratic ideas to try to drive down health insurance costs and the cost of being able to just live and live an affordable life, a comfortable life and a good life. So we’ll see what the opportunities are. But we’re committed to moving aggressively during the first 100 days of the new Congress and beyond to keep our word, to fight for an affordable America, to bring about accountability because we’ve seen unprecedented corruption that has been visited upon the American people. And we are committed to holding the crooks accountable and making sure that Congress functions like a separate and coequal branch of government and a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch. And we also have to restore American values like liberty and justice for all, equal protection under the law, our commitment to the unfettered right to vote and to lift up our glorious history as a nation of immigrants.

JONATHAN KARL: You had some choice words for Stephen Miller’s elevation to Chief of Staff. You called him a ‘dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist,’ said he ‘had blood—American blood on his hands.’ How does that—what does that mean for your ability to work with that White House, with that Chief of Staff, this President?

LEADER JEFFRIES: It’s an awful choice. Stephen Miller is the architect of Donald Trump’s violent mass deportation machine and has unleashed billions of taxpayer dollars to brutalize and kill American citizens like Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, and, at the same period of time, to violently target law-abiding immigrant families and communities all across the country. So you know, it was an irresponsible decision, in my view. There’s not going to be any opportunity, certainly, to work with Stephen Miller and what he represents. And we’re committed to forcefully pushing back against the extremism that they may try to continue to unleash on the American people. And we’ve got a firewall in the House and a firewall in the Senate, thanks to the American people.

JONATHAN KARL: Because, as I understand it, you talked on occasion or had some communication with Susie Wiles in your role as Democratic Leader, her role as Chief of Staff, which is natural in any White House, any Congress, but you’re saying that can’t happen with this new Chief of Staff?

LEADER JEFFRIES: It’s not going to happen with this new Chief of Staff to the extent that he lasts because he clearly represents, along with Pete Hegseth and a few others, a really toxic brand of political engagement, of politics and of governance. And the American people just voted for that kind of MAGA extremism to be eradicated, which is why they’ve been defeated up and down the ballot all across the country in the House, in the Senate, in governors’ races, in other statewide races and, certainly, in state legislative bodies.

JONATHAN KARL: Well, let me ask you about Pete Hegseth because Thomas Massie, of course a Republican, tells me that he intends to introduce a resolution of impeachment of Hegseth as Defense Secretary as soon as tomorrow. Are you going to support that? Will Democrats vote in favor of that impeachment resolution?

LEADER JEFFRIES: I’m a hard Yes on the Hegseth resolution. The so-called Secretary of Defense has abused his power, undermined our national security and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe. Pete Hegseth has got to go.

JONATHAN KARL: And you’re confident all other Democrats are going to join you on that?

LEADER JEFFRIES: We’ll certainly have that conversation on Tuesday morning when we reconvene for the first time in Washington, D.C., but I believe there will be incredibly strong support for that resolution.

JONATHAN KARL: What about the rest of the accountability agenda? Your incoming House Oversight Committee Chairman, Robert Garcia, put it simply as to his agenda. He said, ‘Lawyer up.’ That’s the message to staffers in the White House, administration officials. Is that what it’s going to look like?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, there’s a cost to corruption. And throughout this campaign, we promised that we would focus, certainly, on affordability and driving down the high cost of living and on accountability in the face of the unprecedented corruption that we’ve seen unleashed on the American people by the Trump Cartel. As a matter of fact, our view has been, if you’ve got folks out there who’ve been shortchanging the American people, screwing over the American people or stealing from the American people, then they need to be held accountable in a manner consistent with Congress’s role constitutionally as a separate and coequal branch of government and a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch. And my view is that we’ve got to follow the facts, apply the law, be guided by the Constitution at all times and then let the chips fall where they may on behalf of the American people and highlight the fact that there certainly is a cost to corruption when you have people in high office who are solely focused on enriching themselves, their family members, their friends and their donors, then they’re not focused on making life better for the American people. We’re committed to cleaning up the mess wherever it’s found. That’s in the Congress, in the Supreme Court and with respect to this administration. That’s why I strongly support banning Members of Congress from being able to trade stock as one of the things that we’ll need to do as soon as we’re back in control.

JONATHAN KARL: Do you expect Stephen Miller will be called to testify in some of these Oversight investigations—hearings?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, I’m going to defer to Jamie Raskin and the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, as well as Robert Garcia and Democrats on the Oversight Committee in terms of how they’re going to proceed. We’ll have a conversation about that over the next few weeks and I don’t want to get out ahead of any investigation other than making clear that we are going to visit accountability on the wrongdoers.

JONATHAN KARL: And we’re just about out of time, but I’ve got to ask you, what does it mean to you to be on the verge of being the first Black Speaker of the House in American history?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, listen, this is representative democracy, and it’s been an honor and a privilege to be able to serve the people of Brooklyn, as well as to work on behalf of the people of this great country. It was definitely meaningful as I closed this campaign with Shomari Figures in Montgomery, Alabama, the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, thinking about all of the struggles of those great heroes like Dr. King, Rosa Parks and so many other foot soldiers who helped to get us to this point. Listen, we have to continue to push back against the national nightmare that has been visited upon the American people. But I’m confident, standing on the shoulders of so many great heroes, that we are going to be able to continue this country’s long, necessary and majestic march toward a more perfect union.

JONATHAN KARL: Alright, Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thank you for joining us.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you.

Full interview can be watched here.

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