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NewsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon, everyone.
00:09This week has once again made clear that the extreme MAGA Republican agenda is to jam Trump's
00:22Project 2025 down the throats of the American people.
00:28What is Project 2025?
00:32It's dangerous, it's dastardly, and it's diabolical.
00:39Project 2025, the Trump and extreme MAGA Republican agenda, will criminalize abortion care and
00:50impose a nationwide ban on reproductive freedom.
00:57Trump's Project 2025 will end Social Security and Medicare as we know it.
01:05Trump's Project 2025 will destroy working families and the middle class in favor of
01:17the wealthy, the well-off, and well-connected corporations.
01:23Trump's Project 2025 is dangerous, diabolical, and dastardly.
01:32And we will not let the extreme MAGA Republicans hide this reckless agenda from the American
01:43people.
01:45And we need the American people to join us so we can stop it.
01:50Questions?
01:51Questions?
01:52Leader Jeffries, NBC News just in the last few minutes moved some reporting that several
01:56of President Biden's closest allies now say that he has zero chances of winning.
02:01A direct quote is, he needs to drop out from one Biden campaign official.
02:06He will never recover from this after the week and a half that we've had.
02:10Do you agree?
02:11Is it time?
02:13Throughout this week, as House Democrats, we have engaged in a process of talking to
02:20each other.
02:22Those conversations have been candid, comprehensive, and clear-eyed.
02:29And they continue until that process has concluded.
02:34I'm not going to address what any outside stakeholders may have to say about this matter.
02:40How much longer can you allow the breaking to go on before it ultimately wounds him?
02:45House Democrats, Senate Democrats, and President Biden are unified on the affirmative agenda
02:53that we have for the American people related to lowering housing costs or ending price
03:00gouging or growing the middle class, defending democracy, and fighting for reproductive freedom.
03:08President Biden, House Democrats, and Senate Democrats are also united in pushing back
03:12against Project 2025 and the extreme mega-Republican agenda.
03:17That's unifying, not dividing us.
03:20Leader Jeffries, President Biden has said he's staying in this race, but after your
03:25conversations throughout this week, do you think it's time for him to reconsider that
03:30based on what you're hearing?
03:32Our conversations have been candid, comprehensive, and clear-eyed, and they are ongoing.
03:37Leader Jeffries, you just said that you're...
03:39Hold on, hold on.
03:41Leader Jeffries...
03:42Right, right there.
03:43Thank you, Leader Jeffries.
03:44I do want to ask, so you have another frontliner coming out today, Congresswoman Hillary Scalton,
03:49calling for Biden to step aside.
03:50You have Greg Lansman saying that he's coming closer to that conclusion.
03:54Are you worried that Biden is a liability for your most vulnerable members?
03:59No.
04:01Do you think that Democrats don't have to win back the House if Biden stays at the top of the ticket?
04:06House Democrats will win back control of the House of Representatives on November 5th and
04:14vacate the extreme MAGA Republican majority as long as we are able to clearly communicate
04:23our agenda of putting people over politics, lowering costs, growing the middle class,
04:29defending fundamental freedoms and democracy, and contrast that with the extreme MAGA Republican
04:35agenda, which will destroy working families and the middle class way of life as we know it.
04:45Thanks.
04:46Do you believe Biden's made a final decision about whether to stay in the race?
04:50As I indicated, House Democrats are engaged in conversations with House Democrats at this
04:58moment in time.
05:00Those conversations have been candid, clear-eyed, and comprehensive.
05:07And that's important for us to do as a House Democratic caucus family.
05:13And as long as those conversations are ongoing,
05:17I'm going to respect the sanctity of those conversations until we conclude that process.
05:24Thank you very much, Leader Jeffries.
05:26I want to ask about appropriations.
05:28The last time the Speaker's job was threatened, it was your caucus that bailed him out,
05:33gave him the support to survive.
05:35And that was very important to him maintaining his job.
05:37In that context, what are your priorities for the appropriations process that's underway?
05:42And do you plan to use your leverage over the Speaker to get some of your priorities through?
05:46And if not, then why not?
05:48In connection with the appropriations process, we've had no discussion about a theoretical
05:54or hypothetical motion to vacate.
05:58We take every issue and evaluate it in a serious, substantive, and sober fashion.
06:03That's before the Congress, and that's what we'll continue to do.
06:06With respect to the current appropriations process,
06:10we've been very clear that in May of last year, House Democrats, Senate Democrats,
06:16House Republicans, and Senate Republicans, in partnership with President Biden,
06:21reached an agreement connected to the Bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act.
06:26That agreement, in this upcoming fiscal year, calls for a top-line spending number of $16.81.
06:37The Republicans in the House right now are marking up an appropriations bill at $16.06.
06:46That means they are cutting $75 billion from their own agreement,
06:53reached with everyone else under the Capitol Dome and President Joe Biden,
06:58along with Vice President Kamala Harris.
07:01That $75 billion cut will adversely impact the health, the safety, and the economic well-being
07:09of the American people, hurt children, hurt seniors, hurt veterans, and hurt many others.
07:15It's unacceptable.
07:16It's not sustainable.
07:18We are not going to accept a dime less than the $16.81 number that we all agreed upon.
07:28The behavior of the extreme right Republicans right now, and by the way,
07:32they're unable to pass their own reckless appropriations bills,
07:37which should tell you everything you need to know,
07:40suggests to me that they are marching the country to a dangerous
07:47government shutdown at the end of September.
07:59213 voting members of the House Democratic Caucus and three additional delegates.
08:06Every single one of those voices is important.
08:11Throughout this Congress, we've tried to engage when we've been confronting
08:17unprecedented event after unprecedented event after unprecedented event
08:24in a process of maximum communication in order to arrive at an enlightened path forward.
08:35That's what we've done every single day of the 118th Congress, and that's going to continue.
08:44In the back.
08:45Thank you, Mr. Rueger.
08:47Could you just talk a little bit about what advice you have for lawmakers right now
08:52as they're weighing this sort of moment for the party and for the president,
08:57and they're deciding what to say and what should happen.
09:03I imagine many of them we hear are hearing from their constituents.
09:08What should they tell their constituents and what advice do you have for them as they weigh
09:13their own personal decisions on what they believe is the best path forward?
09:19It's important for us to continue to engage with each other here in the United States
09:24House of Representatives, but even more important for our members, as they have been doing,
09:30to engage with their constituents back home on any issue.
09:35This is representative democracy, and the House is the institution that the framers
09:41designed to be the closest to the American people, to reflect the hopes, the dreams,
09:46the aspirations, the fears, the concerns, the anxieties, and in the words of the framers,
09:50the passions of the American people.
09:53That requires intimate engagement with the people back home that we're privileged to
10:01represent on any matter, but certainly on matters of consequence.
10:07Thank you, Leader. If President Biden fails to deliver tonight at tonight's press conference,
10:12how will Democrats move forward?
10:15That's a speculative question, and as I indicated, we're involved in an internal process
10:21that we take seriously, and until that process is concluded,
10:27I'm not really in a position to comment on external events.
10:30How much is at stake?
10:34I'm sorry, first row.
10:37Among your frontline members of the caucus, the ones who've called on the President to
10:41withdraw, do they confer with you, try to get your blessing, notify you in advance?
10:46As you can imagine, there have been a lot of conversations that have taken place
10:50over the last several weeks, and those conversations are private until frontline
10:55members or other members of the caucus decide to make them public.
10:59Kevin?
11:02After the last two weeks, even with all of that, there was at least one public poll today
11:05that suggested that Biden and Trump are still relatively neck and neck.
11:09Is there a case that you have made or that you can make for staying the course with Biden
11:13as the nominee?
11:14And then on top of that, if you don't follow what the concerns are of some of these members,
11:19they're coming out and speaking, and don't call on Biden to resign, and he loses, you
11:24don't get the House, you don't become Speaker.
11:26Why should the members trust your political judgment?
11:29We're going to work as hard as we can to win back control of the United States House of
11:33Representatives in November, and I think at the end of any election cycle, people are
11:43going to evaluate what the performance of House Democratic leaders has been in achieving
11:50the objective.
11:52That involves candidate recruitment, that involves how much resources the DCCC is raising
12:00relative to our counterparts on the extreme mega-Republican side of the aisle, and it
12:07also involves what happens in any high-profile special elections that may occur during the
12:14course of the 118th Congress, including ones that may happen to emerge in your own backyard.
12:20The record will speak for itself.
12:22I'm not going to characterize it at this moment, but all of this information is in
12:27the public domain.
12:29Is there a case, Kim?
12:30Thank you.
12:31If I may ask on the President, your meeting with —
12:34Thank you.
12:35— with Zelensky yesterday.
12:38We talked about it a little bit yesterday, but if I may ask more specifics, have you
12:42been talking about lifting all the restrictions from the Ukrainian army and how Congress may
12:46help Ukraine with that?
12:47And also, have you been talking about securing aid to Ukraine in the future, maybe next year?
12:52We have not had any conversation about future appropriations, but we did have a very thoughtful
12:58and candid and comprehensive and meaningful discussion with President Zelensky and his
13:03team yesterday.
13:05I was, of course, joined at that meeting by Catherine Clark and Pete Aguilar, Speaker
13:12Emerita Pelosi, some of our leaders on the committees of relevant jurisdiction, including
13:20Jim Himes, Adam Smith, Greg Meeks, and Rosa DeLauro.
13:25At that conversation, we talked about how we can fully implement the legislative product
13:35that was produced in connection with the national security package.
13:40And we also talked about the stakes being incredibly high.
13:44This is a moment in the world where we are locked in an existential struggle between
13:51democracy and autocracy.
13:55Between freedom and tyranny.
13:57Between truth and propaganda.
14:01The United States and Ukraine stand on the side of democracy, freedom, and truth.
14:09Vladimir Putin stands on the side of autocracy, tyranny, and propaganda and is engaging in
14:19brutal tactics such as bombing a children's hospital.
14:25Russian aggression must be stopped at all costs for the good of the Ukrainian people,
14:31for the good of America's national security interests, and for the good of the free world.
14:36And we made clear to President Zelensky that we will be with him every step of the way
14:44until Russian aggression has been defeated.
14:47What was your meeting restrictions from Ukraine?
14:50We discussed a wide variety of issues in terms of how to operationalize the
14:58legislative effort that was passed and signed into law by President Biden.
15:03Great leadership in that regard from President Biden.
15:07And we will follow up our conversation with President Zelensky with members of the administration.
15:13Thank you, Mr. Leader.
15:14The inflation report came out today with indicators that inflation is cooling.
15:18You mentioned Project 2025.
15:20There were some legislative failures on the floor for House Republicans today.
15:24Are you concerned that the conversations that are going on with your members,
15:28speaking to the press about Biden's candidacy,
15:31are a distraction from the message that you could be sending about the
15:35economy turning around about Project 2025 as you met with your remarks with
15:41the legislative branch approach bill failing?
15:44Are you concerned that those opportunities are being lost
15:48to this conversation that we're having about Biden's candidacy as it pertains to House Democrats?
15:54We have to look at the cumulative weight and balance of the discussion that has
15:59occurred throughout the 118th Congress.
16:01The 118th Congress has been a disaster for House Republicans.
16:06It's been characterized by chaos, dysfunction, and extremism.
16:11As evidenced today, House Republicans can't accomplish a single thing
16:17without Democratic support.
16:20And by the way, have no interest in doing anything meaningful
16:26except for jamming their extreme right-wing ideology
16:30down the throats of the American people in the form of Trump's Project 2025.
16:36That's the reality of what has occurred for the last 18-plus months.
16:42And the American people see it.
16:44They know it.
16:45They felt it.
16:47And they've experienced it.
16:50And we don't track polls day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month.
16:55But one thing has been clear throughout the last 18-plus months,
17:01and that's the generic ballot.
17:03Who do the American people trust more?
17:07It relates to the House of Representatives.
17:09House Democrats or extreme MAGA Republicans?
17:13The data consistently speaks for itself.
17:20We're going to continue to both thoughtfully engage in the conversations that we've been having
17:27with each other as a separate and co-equal branch of government
17:32here in the House of Representatives.
17:35And at the same time, also make clear that we have to articulate a vision for the future
17:47that meets the needs of the American people,
17:50building upon the transformational progress that has been led by President Joe Biden.
17:57Last question.
17:58Last question.
18:08You know, the extreme MAGA Republicans can run, but they can't hide from the American people.
18:12And next week, we will see chaos, dysfunction, and extremism on full display.
18:18The notion that the extreme MAGA Republicans can convince anyone
18:22that they truly don't want to criminalize abortion care
18:26and impose a nationwide ban is a joke.
18:30The extreme MAGA Republicans are responsible for the situation
18:34that tens of millions of women find themselves in right now.
18:42We will continue to make clear we believe in a woman's freedom
18:44to make her own reproductive health care decisions.
18:47Next week, we'll highlight again for the American people
18:51that the extreme MAGA Republicans want to criminalize abortion care
18:54and impose a nationwide ban.
18:57We will make clear that we want to strengthen and protect Social Security and Medicare.
19:02The extreme MAGA Republicans want to end Social Security and Medicare as we know it.
19:08We will continue to make clear that House Democrats,
19:12Senate Democrats, and the administration are fighting to make life better for working families,
19:19the middle class, and everyday Americans, while at the same time,
19:23extreme MAGA Republicans simply stand up for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected.
19:31Thank you, everyone.