| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
|
unidentified
|
To be the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. | |
| We could also see work on the nomination of Mike Huckabee to be the U.S. Ambassador to Israel. | ||
| And over on C-SPAN 3 at 10 a.m., the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on President Trump's trade agenda and tariffs with testimony from Trade Representative Jameson Greer. | ||
| And later, at 2, a House Subcommittee on Elections will hold a hearing on election preparedness, featuring testimony from several secretaries of state. | ||
| You can also watch live coverage on the C-SPAN Now app or online at c-span.org. | ||
| Up next, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, speaking to reporters about the tariffs imposed by President Trump and their impact on the economy. | ||
| He also fields questions on the special election race in Texas and the GOP's legislative agenda. | ||
| This is 20 Minutes. Afternoon, everybody. | ||
| Donald Trump and extreme MAGA Republicans spent all of last year promising to lower the high cost of living in America, while at the same period of time running away from Project 2025 and pretending as if it didn't exist. | ||
| They consistently lied to the American people. | ||
| And now the American people are feeling the consequences of this extreme administration, the Trump administration, this extreme president, Donald Trump, and these extreme MAGA Republicans who are temporarily in the majority in the House of Representatives. | ||
| This year, Republicans have done nothing, not a single thing, to lower the high cost of living in the United States of America. | ||
| The cost of living is too high. | ||
| Housing costs are too high. | ||
| Grocery costs are too high. | ||
| Insurance costs are too high. | ||
| Utility costs are too high. | ||
| Childcare costs are too high. | ||
| America is too expensive. | ||
| And Democrats remain committed to driving down the high cost of living in the United States of America. | ||
| Instead, instead of costs going down, which Donald Trump promised would happen on day one of his presidency, costs aren't going down, they're going up. | ||
| Inflation is going up. | ||
| Donald Trump and Republicans are actually crashing the economy in real time. | ||
| You can't make this up. | ||
| They are intentionally inflicting pain on the American people. | ||
| This Trump tax, these reckless tariffs, will cost the American people thousands of dollars a year. | ||
| It's the largest tax increase on the American people since 1968. | ||
| This is what Donald Trump's presidency and Republicans in control of the House and the Senate are delivering to America. | ||
| Not lower costs, not a more prosperous economy, not the golden age in America, economic disaster. | ||
| And then at the same period of time, these MAGA extremists are trying to jam a reckless budget down the throats of the American people, take away health care from the American people, strip away veterans' benefits from the American people, and hurt nutritional assistance, and literally take food out of the mouths of babies in America. | ||
| Why? | ||
| Because they want to pass massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors and puppet masters like Elon Musk. | ||
| This is Republican policy in America, and it's a complete and total disaster. | ||
| Questions? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Mr. Leader, good afternoon. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| Jameson Greer, the new trade representative, will testify before the Senate and House committees in the next couple of days. | ||
| What would be your question to Greer about these tariffs? | ||
| The Trump tariffs, which are a tax on the American people, are so reckless, so unstrategic, so lacking in any sophistication that the only conclusion that one can draw is that Donald Trump and Republicans are intentionally tanking the economy. | ||
| Is it because, as Donald Trump has indicated, that during tough economic times, the rich get richer and it's a buying opportunity? | ||
| Those are Trump's words. | ||
| Can you confirm? | ||
|
unidentified
|
But what's your question to him? | |
| I just asked it: If Democrats were in power, would you fully repeal these tariffs? | ||
| If Democrats were in control of the House of Representatives at this particular point in time, we would use every legislative tool available to us to protect the American people from this kind of economic harm. | ||
| Every single legislative tool. | ||
| Tariffs, when properly utilized, have a role to play in trying to make sure that you have a competitive environment for our workers and our businesses. | ||
| That's not what's going on right now. | ||
| This is a reckless economic sledgehammer that Donald Trump and compliant Republicans in the Congress are taking to the economy, and the American people are being hurt enough. | ||
| There's no rational explanation for any of this, except perhaps that there's some scheme that Donald Trump has publicly alluded to, which is that the rich get richer when the economy collapses because there are buying opportunities. | ||
| There's no rational basis otherwise to explain the economic carnage that Donald Trump is visiting on the American people. | ||
| And House Democrats, partnering with Senate Democrats, will continue to stand up against these extreme economic policies. | ||
| Thanks. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. Leader. | |
| There's a bipartisan push in the Senate to reclaim some congressional power over tariff and trade policy. | ||
| Don Bacon has said that he'll introduce a bill over in the House. | ||
| Speaker Johnson apparently will not bring this bill to the floor. | ||
| Donald Trump's administration, the White House put out a statement of administration policy to be paid, saying that they would, that he would veto the bill even if it passed the Senate. | ||
| Do you think that it's still worth pursuing these legislative vehicles to try to restore Congress's role in trade and tariff policy? | ||
| Yes. | ||
| At the end of the day, the Constitution is very clear that tariffs and tax policy, the ability to raise revenue, that authority is vested in the Congress for a reason because the Congress is most closely associated, particularly the House, with the American people. | ||
| And what we've witnessed under complete Republican control of government is a willingness to simply bend the knee to Donald Trump, no matter how much pain he is inflicting on the American people or how much damage Trump is doing to the American way of life. | ||
| At the end of the day, House Democrats are going to continue to press our case because the American people are listening, paying close attention, and as special election after special election after special election have demonstrated since late January, responding. | ||
| Republicans will either start acting like a separate and co-equal branch of government and work with Democrats in a bipartisan way to push back against Trump's failed economic policies or continue to suffer the political consequences that have been visited upon them with record speed during the last several weeks. | ||
|
unidentified
|
This is on another topic, if it's okay. | |
| It seems over the weekend, Speaker Johnson reached an agreement with Congresswoman Luna on this concept or procedure called pairing to allow new parents to vote by proxy. | ||
| Is that a procedure that you support? | ||
| I haven't had the opportunity to fully evaluate this proposal and or talk with Representative Petterson or Representative Sarah Jacobs, who have been the leaders of this effort on our side. | ||
| And so I'm going to refrain from commenting on the proposal until I've had those conversations and the opportunity to review this so-called agreement. | ||
| The question has to be raised, what is the Republican problem with allowing expectant mothers or new mothers to vote on behalf of their constituents? | ||
| This seems like a very strange hill for them to die on legislatively. | ||
| House Republican leaders were already embarrassed last week and the floor of the House of Representatives was as a result shut down. | ||
| Republicans scurried off a sinking ship last week. | ||
| And it's strange because clearly a majority of members of the House, Democrats and Republicans, have already expressed through the discharge petition and last week's rule vote that it is inherently reasonable to allow new mothers and expectant mothers to vote. | ||
| This is not a Republican or Democratic thing. | ||
| It's an American thing. | ||
| But this speaks to a larger issue. | ||
| The whole Trump flood the zone approach is designed to create this appearance of inevitability. | ||
| Nothing was ever inevitable as if Democrats were going to roll over and allow it all to happen. | ||
| The exact opposite has occurred. | ||
| We will never roll over in Congress. | ||
| We're not rolling over in the courts. | ||
| And we certainly aren't rolling over in campaign after campaign after campaign across the country where the extremists are losing. | ||
| And on all of these things, that level of forceful and principled opposition to policies that are hurting the American people, directly or indirectly, in the case of this proxy issue, will continue. | ||
| Second row? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Leader Jeffers, just slightly off topic, but I wanted to get your thoughts on, as lawmakers seem to have more concerns about these measles outbreaks that seem to be happening throughout the country. | |
| We heard recently that actually Senator Bill Cassidy wants to put in a request for Secretary Kennedy to testify about the measles outbreaks. | ||
| What are your thoughts on having him come to the House side as well on this? | ||
| And do you think that HHS is doing enough to address this? | ||
| HHS is clearly not doing enough. | ||
| The fact that we even have a measles outbreak in 2025 is stunning. | ||
| And it speaks to the incompetence of the Trump administration. | ||
| We were promised by Donald Trump directly the best, most capable administration ever. | ||
| Is that what Donald Trump and Republicans are delivering right now? | ||
| Is this what competence and merit looks like? | ||
| In department after department, including the Department of Defense, we have the most unqualified Secretary of Defense ever. | ||
| And the others, including the HHS Secretary, are not far behind. | ||
| And these things have real consequences when you have such an arrogant and incompetent administration. | ||
| We believe in merit as Democrats. | ||
| We believe in merit. | ||
| Merit should be based on what you know, not who you know, or whether Donald Trump likes the way that you look or a view that you're not going to stand up to any outrageous or extreme idea that Donald Trump presents. | ||
| So you put sycophants into the cabinet. | ||
| And now the American people are paying the price, both in terms of the economy and as it relates to their health. | ||
| And unfortunately, things aren't going to get better. | ||
| They're likely to get worse. | ||
|
unidentified
|
So do you think you should come testify? | |
| Yes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. League. | |
| We are just coming up to the two-week district work period. | ||
| I know you had mentioned that you wanted to see the D.C. emergency funding bill brought up at some point this week. | ||
| Do you have any updates that you can share on that? | ||
| Have Republicans talk to you or talk to any Democrats about when that bill will be introduced? | ||
| It's my understanding that President Trump has clearly and forcefully expressed his support for the emergency DC funding bill and has bipartisan support in the Senate and will pass the House. | ||
| What's the problem? | ||
| Like House Republican leaders fall in line when it comes to doing the most extreme things like the largest Medicaid cut in American history. | ||
| Donald Trump says jump, they say how high. | ||
| Doesn't matter how much pain is going to be inflicted on the American people. | ||
| So it's strange to us that the Speaker and the Republican leadership refuse to put the DC emergency funding bill on the floor, which will pass even after Donald Trump says get it done. | ||
| It's evidence that you've just got some mean-spirited, cruel people in the House Republican conference who apparently are the ones, including the so-called Freedom Caucus, who are blocking Republican leadership from bringing this bill to the floor. | ||
| Thanks. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Leader. | |
| The SAVE Act is expected to be voted on this week. | ||
| We're probably expecting a couple, not a lot, but at least a couple of Democrats to support it. | ||
| What do you think that's going to say? | ||
| It'll speak for itself. | ||
| The SAVE Act is a voter suppression bill, and there will be strong Democratic opposition to it, just like there is unified Democratic opposition in the lawsuit that was filed against Donald Trump related to his unconstitutional and unlawful voter suppression executive order. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. Leader. | |
| Multiple blue state governors have had contact with their counterparts from foreign nations, specifically Canada, trying to have some relief for their states when it comes to tariffs and trade wars. | ||
| Do you think that's an effective strategy for their short term or long term? | ||
| I think that governors are always going to try to do what is in the best interest of their state. | ||
| I haven't followed those communications closely, but what I will say is that this can all end if House Republicans and Senate Republicans decided to do their job. | ||
| Congress can step in and end the pain that is being inflicted on the American people by Donald Trump, his out-of-control tariffs, and the massive tax increase that is being inflicted on the American people. | ||
| Last week, Donald Trump called his tariff announcements Liberation Day. | ||
| It wasn't Liberation Day, it was Recession Day. | ||
| Because Donald Trump and the Republicans are marching the American economy toward a recession. | ||
| And it appears to be intentional, which should shock the conscience of the American people. | ||
| And it's just another reason why it's our expectation that all across the country, despite all of the doom and gloom predictions from some in this town, Democrats are winning special elections, not losing. | ||
| Yes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Leader. | |
| Last week, Governor Abbott responded to Democratic concerns about him not calling the Texas 18 special election. | ||
| You said that you would consider litigation. | ||
| Have you given any direction as to how you would go about that? | ||
| Would that go through the D-TRIP? | ||
| Any details on how that would come forward? | ||
| We're in close communication with the people on the ground in Houston who are impacted. | ||
| And it's my expectation that an announcement will be forthcoming. | ||
| The Republicans are on the run on the economy. | ||
| They're on the run on health care. | ||
| They're on the run in the courts. | ||
| They're on the run electorally. | ||
| And they're on the run legislatively, which is why Governor Abbott is conspiring with House Republicans to rig the system and not call a special election. | ||
| The Honorable Sylvester Turner unexpectedly passed away over a month ago on March 5th. | ||
| His homegoing service was on March 15th. | ||
| Greg Abbott is intentionally disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of people in Houston by not calling a special election because he is conspiring to rig the system with House Republican leaders and Donald Trump. | ||
| Plain and simple. | ||
| That's what's happening. | ||
| There is no explanation. | ||
| Why is it occurring? | ||
| Because Republican policies and proposals are unpopular. | ||
| They are struggling to govern. | ||
| We were told they had a mandate. | ||
| A mandate for economic chaos doesn't exist. | ||
| A mandate to cut Medicaid, the largest cut in American history, doesn't exist. | ||
| A mandate to dismantle Social Security as we know it doesn't exist. | ||
| A mandate to fire thousands of veterans doesn't exist. | ||
| We were told that Republicans had a massive electoral mandate. | ||
| It didn't exist. | ||
| It was a joke when it was said. | ||
| And Democrats never bought it, which is why you've seen principled opposition every single step of the way. | ||
| Every hour, every day, every week, every month, it will continue. | ||
| And so, as a result of that, the fact that they know that Democrats are standing up to their extremism and foolishness and efforts to hurt the American people, and they are struggling to produce the votes as this current Republican budget resolution debate shows, they're going to suppress the ability of the people of Houston to actually elect someone. | ||
| They are rigging the system in real time. | ||
| They can't win otherwise. | ||
| They can't win otherwise. | ||
| So that seat is going to eventually get filled, and the courts will likely have to step in. | ||
| And the American people are going to continue to express themselves. | ||
| And we're going to see it in New Jersey, and we're going to see it in Virginia in November. | ||
| The courts will continue to aggressively push back to stop these extreme executive orders and unconstitutional actions that are being taken. | ||
| And House Democrats and Senate Democrats are going to continue to work together to make the case to the American people that we are defending their interests, and Republicans are actively trying to harm them. | ||
| Thank you, everyone. | ||
|
unidentified
|
President Trump is pressing ahead with his threat to impose additional tariffs on countries that retaliate against the United States for newly imposed tariffs. | |
| On Truth Social, the President is calling out China for issuing retaliatory tariffs of 34 percent and warning that if China does not withdraw its 34 percent increase above their already long-term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose additional tariffs on China of 50 percent, effective April 9th. | ||
| He goes on to say all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with the U.S. will be terminated. | ||
| Negotiations with other countries, which also have requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately. | ||
| The Associated Press reports on the Dow Jones industrial average dropping 1,200 points as trading began on Monday morning, and the SP 500 was on track to enter a bear market, which means falling 20% from a recent high. | ||
| The AP goes on to say that even some of Trump's allies are raising alarms about the economic damage, and financial forecasts suggest more pain on the horizon for U.S. businesses, consumers, and investors. | ||
| You can read more at APNews.com. | ||
| Tuesday, the secretaries of state from Alabama, Connecticut, Idaho, Louisiana, and Ohio are on Capitol Hill to testify on how their states administer the 2024 election. | ||
| They're expected to address election security and integrity and voter access. | ||
| You can watch the House Administration Subcommittee hearing live starting at 2 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN 3. | ||
| C-SPAN Now, our free mobile app, or online at c-span.org. | ||
| As a follow-on to Stuart Banner's History of the Supreme Court, this week's Book Notes Plus podcast features a 2002 interview with Dennis Hutchinson, a University of Chicago law professor emeritus. | ||
| The subject matter, the forgotten memoir of John Knox, a law clerk to former Justice James McReynolds, a native of Kentucky. | ||
| Knox's year was the term beginning October 1936. |