"lawless: how the supreme court runs on conservative agreements, fringe theories, and b vibes." she's interviewed by author and nation magazine justice correspondent elie mystal. watch booktv every sunday on c-span2, and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch any line -- watch online anytime at book tv.org. ♪ >> c-span, democracy unfiltered. we are funded by these television companies and more, including comcast. >> you think this is just a community center? no, it is way more than that. >> comcast is partnering with 1000 community centers to create wi-fi-enabled lift zones, so students from low-inme families can get the tools they need tbe ready for anything. >> comcast supports c-span as a public serce, along with these other television providers, ging you a front row seat to democracy. ♪

>> at his weekly news conference on capitol hill house democratic , leader hakeem jeffries called the jumbo-jet that was gifted to president donald trump from qatar a "$400 million flying palace." later, jeffries was critical of the president's tax and spending plan, which was saying it because assistance while giving tax breaks to the wealthy. the news conference is about 15 minutes. rep. jeffries: good afternoon, everyone. >> good afternoon. rep. jeffries: donald trump and house republicans spent all of last year promising to lower the high cost of living in the united states of america. to gon america on day one. costs haven't gone down. they have gone up. inflation is on the way up. donald trump and house republicans who have been nothing more than a rubber stamp

for donald trump's extreme agenda, are crashing the economy and driving us toward a recession. what piece of legislation do they decide to work on as their signature priority in this congress? is it legislation to make life more affordable? no. is it legislation to lower the cost of housing in the united states of america? no. is it legislation that actually enhances the ability for everyday americans to provide childcare or afford groceries in this country? no. house republicans are trying to jam another g.o.p. tax scam down the throats of the american people. where the overwhelming majority of the benefits will go to the

wealthiest 1% of the united states of america, and they want to pay for it by sticking us with additional debt, trillions of dollars of additional debt, and by enacting the largest health care cut in american history along with the largest cut to food assistance in american history, literally taking food out of the mouths of children, veterans, and seniors in this country. it's shameful. the american people do not support this extreme and toxic bill. we are going to hold every single house republican who votes for it accountable. questions? reporter: mr. leader, good afternoon. your statement the other day after there was this incident in

newark, you said they bert not touch our members. what happens if they were to go and arrest these members or if they would try to sanction them during the house of representatives? what would you do? mr. jeffries: they'll find out. reporter: doesn't that broach -- mr. jeffries: that's a red line. reporter: what's the red line? mr. jeffries: it's a red line. it's very clear. first of all i think the so-called homeland security spokesperson is a joke. it's a joke. they know better. than to go down that road. it's been made loudly and abundantly clear to the trump administration. we are not going to be intimidated by their tactics to try to force principled opposition to not standing up to their extremism. it hasn't happened during the entirety of this failed term, it

didn't happen when donald trump temporarily was sitting high in the immediate aftermath of the election. do you think it's going to happen now when he's the most unpopular president in american history after his first 100 days? give me a break. no one's intimidated by this dude. no one. and so there are clear lines that they just dare not cross. reporter: speaking of red lines, mr. leader, were you informed the white house intended to fire dr. hayden, head of the lie brair riff congress? mr. jeffries: no. reporter: is there anything you can do to reverse it, to discuss it? mr. jeffries: we are looking into it. of course the problem that we confront right now in this congress is that house republicans and senate republicans are nothing more than a client rubber stamp for

donald trump's extreme agenda. they are not a check and balance. they are not working for the american people. they are actually working for out-of-control executive branch. now, it's the library of congress, not the library of the executive branch. clearly it's going to have to be some reforms at this particular point in time moving forward. the president probably violated the law. what cause did he have to fire dr. hayden? there is no cause. it's all made up foolishness. so we are certainly going to look into that. and litigation will be evaluated strongly. but moving forward i think what's clear is that perhaps the executive branch should be removed from the process once a librarian of congress has been

designated, if we are going to have an out-of-control executive who is going to abuse the authority that he in this instance has been given by the united states congress. reporter: the vice chair of the d.n.c., he said today, quote, too many leaders in the democratic party are asleep at the wheel. are you obviously a leader in the democratic party. mr. jeffries: did he mention me by name? reporter: did he not. are you a leader. are democrats asleep at the wheel. does he have a point? mr. jeffries: i think i have been very clear on my perspective about david hahn and i'll defend every member house. democratic caucus. reporter: on a sim is lar vein of standing up for congress' authority, what are you trying to do, if anything, about the qatari plane and -- what steps are you taking to assert congress' authority over this? when it comes to the library of

congress. mr. jeffries: congressman jamie raskin has been very clear on this issue as it relates to the constitution. a $400 million flying palace is an unconstitutional gift to this president or any president if it is not explicitly approved by the united states house of representatives and the united states senate. that's what the constitution explicitly makes clear. there is no way around it as far as we are concerned. so the president presumably is going to take that next step and seak congressional authority, which -- seek congressional authority, which i believe we will clearly and decisively reject. it's an embarrassment. literally millions of people in this country are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. can't afford housing, can't

afford groceries, can't afford to pay their utility bills, can't afford childcare. can't afford insurance. and donald trump is publicly defending accepting a $400 million flying palace from a close alley of iran and -- ally of iran and hamas? you can't make this stuff up. which is why even some of his closest maga sycophants have made clear this is a plane too far for them. too far. for them. reporter: thank you, mr. leader. speaking of planes, did you fly out of newark this week? and i wanted to see if you support secretary duffy's proposed fixes to the air traffic control system. mr. jeffries: i flew out of la guardia this week. i look forward to having a conversation with rick larsen

top democrat on the transportation committee. to get his assessment on secretary duffy's recommendation. reporter: are you opened to a major overhaul f air traffic control technology? mr. jeffries: i think we need to make we need to make sure that our air traffic control system technology is top-notch and first rate and to the extent that there are aging parts of the system, it definitively needs to be corrected. we also need an administration that should stop trying to undermine aviation safety in the which is what they've been doing perhaps at the behest of one of their lackeys, elon musk, from the very beginning of this administration. reporter: there's a dispute where trump has appointed library of congress staff turned away those d.o.j. appointments yesterday and brought -- [indiscernible] -- acting director.

who in this moment is leading the library of congress as far as you're concerned and will congressional democrats be offering guidance or weighing in? mr. jeffries: as fares i'm concerned it's not this robert newland character, i've in her heard of him -- never heard of him. at the end of the day, it's the library of congress and so this is another example of executive overreach. it will be challenged in court in all likelihood. and hopefully some of my republican colleagues will actually stand up, show a backbone as it relates to their own authority. stop being pumped by donald trump. i don't understand it. congress is a separate and co-equal branch of government. they already are doing great damage to themselves by trying to jam this extreme g.o.p. tax scam down the throats of the american people. that's not enough for them? in terms of their sycophantic

behavior? they literally are signing their own political death warrants in terms of the 2026 election. they should be doing what's in the best interest of the american people. not trying to visit upon everyday americans the largest cut to health care in american history, devastating cuts to medicaid and at the same time undermining the affordable care act. y'all didn't learn your lesson? how did that work out for you in 2017 and 2018? reporter: there's a new of different revelations coming out about president joe biden's decline. is it helpful for your caucus for these to come out now and would you want biden to campaign for house democrats? mr. jeffries: not looking backward, we're looking forward at this particular moment in time. reporter: thank you, mr. leader.

hill, pallone and craig may not be the most visible members of the caucus but today they're going to be center stage as republicans mark up the bill to, as you say, give tax breaks to the wealthy, take people off their health care and take snap benefits away from americans. what should americans know about these three members and why they should trust their leadership the way that you and many of your -- the members of your caucus do? mr. jeffries: i have great confidence in neal and pallone and craig. they have been leading the charge along with all of the distinguished members of those three committees. it really does represent and capture the mosaic of the caucus and the gorgeous mosaic of the american people. in every possible way in terms of diversity. that includes ideological, racial diversity, gender diversity, age diversity and life experience diversity. all three of these committees ably and incredibly led by

ritchie neal, frank pallone and angie craig. i think the american people will be impressed by what they see. we are all unified in trying to stop these extreme maga republicans from jamming another g.o.p. tax scam that benefits the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected and takes health care away from the american people down our throats. it is an egregious and outrageous bill and it runs directly contrary to the central republican promise that was made in 2024 which is that they were going to fix the economy and lower the high cost of living. they've done neither. they are blowing up the economy in real-time. and raising costs. and they're going to be held accountable for the mess that they are creating.

reporter: thank you, leader. house republicans have justified some of their spending cuts in the name of aiming to try and put the nation in better fiscal footing. do you believe that we have a spending problem and how would house democrats go about this differently to address that? mr. jeffries: that will be explained throughout the various committee hearings that are going to take place throughout today, tonight and into tomorrow. but the notion that republicans are fiscally responsible is laughable. they have repeatedly inherited an improved fiscal situation or in some cases a budget surplus as occurred during bill clinton's presidency, and an improved fiscal situation rel toiive a reduction -- relative to a reduction of the deficit, $1 trillion reduction that donald trump inherited from barack obama.

and then proceeded to blow up the debt and the deficit, just like george w. bush did, just like reagan did. and now republicans are doing it again. we are not going to be lectured about fiscal responsibility by a bunch of people who have repeatedly spent the taxpayer dollars like drunken sailors in order to give their billionaire maga donors like elon musk in this particular instance a tax cut. take care, everyone. reporter: thank you. reporter: thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its

♪ >> looking to contact members of congress? c-span is making it easier with the congressional directory with contact information for government officials in a compact guide. information on congressional committees, the president's cabinet, federal agencies and state government. government, politics and public policy from washington and across the country. wednesday morning, washington

correspondent daniel payne will talk about trump's executive order order on drug pricing. steve cohen talks about the gop budget, aviation safety and other news. stephen moore, advisor to president trump and visiting heritage foundation fellow, talks about the president's economic agenda. c-span's washington journal, join live at 7:00 eastern on c-span, c-span now or online at c-span.org. ♪ >> ernest played at ivy league football at columbia university and was in the old brooklyn dodgers nfl franchise before becoming a lawyer and brain

trust aide to franklin roosevelt. on the payroll of launcher -- walter winchell, his status as a spy remained a secret, hiding in plain sight. this is an introduction to the invisible spy by thomas mayor. he is an author and television producer. >> thomas mayor in his book the invisible spy on america's first cret agent of world war ii. with your host brian lamb, book note plus is available wherever you get your podcasts for the c-span now app. ♪ > c-span, democracy unfiltered, we are funded by these television companies and more including charter communications. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers and we are just getting started,