House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D.N.Y.) said House Republicans are too narrow to pass anything “close to” what Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) is advocating. he claimed.
jeffries I participated On MSNBC Tuesday night, he was asked by host Chris Hayes about Johnson's settlement proposal and any signs that the debt limit could be removed from the massive bill.
“We believe we need to bring this fight into the public arena so that we can win public sentiment,” Jeffries said of the Democratic Party's plan.
Jeffries said ideas floated by Republican leaders “will not attract votes” from Democrats, including one that would enforce nearly all of President-elect Trump's campaign promises.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters last week that it was his “intention” to address the debt ceiling in a settlement. But he walked back that statement on Tuesday, saying he has “no interest” in including a debt ceiling increase in the package.
That suggests top House Republicans may be considering removing the issue from the broader legislative agreement.
Still, if Republicans want to remove the debt ceiling from the settlement, they will have to work with Democrats to raise it. That's something Jeffries knows and expressed on Tuesday's broadcast.
“The reality is that even if we were successful in that effort, I don't think we would be able to pass anything close to what the Speaker and House Republicans are talking about, with close margins with Republicans,” Jeffries said.
The top House Democrat said his party is eager to find “bipartisan common ground” with Republicans and the new Trump administration. However, he accused opposition politicians of being “not serious” about the main issues they campaign on, such as food prices and childcare costs.
“What they want to do, Chris, is pass massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations and have them paid for by working families, the middle class, the poor, the sick, and the suffering. I want to,” Jeffries said.
