On Friday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) stated that the government shutdown is “not about leverage. And by the way, if the votes of Democratic senators are required, then, of course, there should be a bipartisan discussion about enacting a spending bill that is designed to actually make life better” but also Democrats will “not support a partisan Republican spending bill” and also “We are not using a government shutdown to extract any concessions. We want to reopen the government immediately.”
Jeffries said, “We haven’t shut the government down. Donald Trump is the president. Republicans control the House and the Senate. And what we’ve repeatedly made clear is that we would not support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the health care of the American people, in an environment where Republicans already enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history.”
He added, “This is not about leverage. And by the way, if the votes of Democratic senators are required, then, of course, there should be a bipartisan discussion about enacting a spending bill that is designed to actually make life better for the American people, lower the high cost of living, in an environment where Donald Trump and Republicans promised that costs were going to go down on day one.”
Co-host Joe Kernen then asked, “But what changed from when the Democrats said we will not negotiate when the government is shut down on health care? Not now, reopen the government, then we’ll negotiate. That happened in 2013. What happened, what changed since then to where we are now, where you can use a government shutdown to extract concessions from Republicans?”
Jeffries responded, “We are not using a government shutdown to extract any concessions. We want to reopen the government immediately. Donald Trump has refused to meet with Democrats over the last 24 days. He’s spent more time on the golf course than he has actually talking to Democrats on Capitol Hill. He’s found time to demand that the department of injustice give him $230 million in taxpayer money. He’s found time to bail out a right-wing wannabe dictator in Argentina with $40 billion. He’s found time to demolish the East Wing of the White House in the most horrific way possible because he wants to erect a ballroom so he can be celebrated like a king. He’s found time for all of these different things, but somehow can’t be bothered to reopen the government or can’t be bothered to find a dime to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.”
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