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9/11tv House Democratic Leader Jeffries Holds Briefing CSPAN June 23, 2025 5:55pm-6:12pm EDT
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the first of 12 federal spending bills for 202 watch live coverage of the u.s. hous when lawmakers return here on c-span. announcer: earlier today, attorney general pam bondi testified on the president's 2026 budget request for the justice department, which includes nearly $3 billion in proposed cuts and aims to consolidate several d.o.j. offices. watch the senate appropriations subcommittee hearing tonight starting at 9:00 eastern on c-span. it's also available on c-span now, our free mobile app, or online at c-span.org. announcer: house democratic leader hakeem jeffries held a briefing with reporters where he reacted to the u.s. military strikes against iran. he also criticized the republicans' tax and spending cuts legislation which is awaiting approval in the senate. from capitol hill, this is about 25 minutes.
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yef geoffrey van cromviort good afternoon, everyone. the trump administration continues to unleash chaos, cruelty and corruption on the american people. mr. jeffries: donald trump and extreme maga republicans have been a complete and total failure. domestically and internationally. donald trump promised that on day one of his presidency, he would end the war in ukraine. he promised on day one of his presidency he would free the hostages to bring about peace in
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the middle east and donald trump promised that on day one of his presidency, costs would go down in the united states of america. none of it has happened. instead, costs in the united states of america aren't going down, they're going up. donald trump and extreme maga republicans are crashing the economy in real-time and driving us toward a possible recession. donald trump and house republicans have not done a single thing to lower the high cost of living in the united states of america. not a single thing. instead republicans are trying to jam this one big, ugly bill down the throats of the american people. the g.o.p. tax scam represents the largest cut to medicaid in american history.
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it's an all-out assault on the health care of the american people. children, families, people with disabilities, seniors, veterans will all be hurt by the g.o.p. tax scam. premiums, co-pays and deductibles will go up for tens of millions of americans, hospitals will close, nursing homes will shut down, community-based health clinics will be unable to operate. and because more than 16 or so million people in america will lose their health care, people in this country will die. that's what republican governance has brought to the united states of america. the g.o.p. tax scam will also cut nutritional assistance from the american people.
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children and seniors and older americans will literally have food ripped away from them. and this all-out assault on health care, this all-out assault on nutritional assistance is being done by republicans so they can provide their billion-air doaners with massive tax breaks that they don't need and don't deserve. the one big, ugly republican bill will hurt everyday americans in order to reward billionaires. at the same time donald trump and his actions which do not appear to be consistent with the united states constitution takes unilateral offense military action without seeking the
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approval of the united states congress. the use of military force, which is offense in nature -- offensive in nature, must be approved by the house and the senate. that's according to the constitution. it's not optional, donald, it's not. the framers of the constitution actually gave congress the power to declare war for a reason. so the american people through their elected representatives would have the opportunity to debate the issue. and make some decisions. as it relates to what's in the best interests and the national security of the american people. donald trump and the administration chose to ignore the constitution and so they're going to have to come before congress and explain their
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justification. ... for an offensive military strike. against iran. yes, we can never allow iran to become a nuclear power and of course israel has the right to defend itself and we'll support israel's security in an ironclad manner. but this trump administration decided to ignore the aggressive diplomacy that was available to it to try address the iranian nuclear threat and ignore the requirements of the constitution and now they've got to explain why. and we expect that justification not just at the briefing behind closed doors tomorrow, but we
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expect them to explain to the american people the basis of the strike. what were the results in terms of actually thwarting iran's capacity to become a nuclear power and what are the trump administration's plans to avoid another potentially disastrous war in the middle east where thousands of american lives are potentially at risk? what is your plan to avoid another foreign war? a promise you made, promise that dom trump made to the american people. last year. and just like every other major promise that he made on the campaign trail he's failed to keep.
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questions? on saturday i communicated to the white house at the highest levels that we would have a gang of eight classified briefing immediately to discuss the military strike on iran, the potential for retaliation, as well as to probe the basis and justification for the offensive military action and to understand the damage that was actually done and whether reports are accurate that iran may have moved significant amounts of their enriched uranium in advance of the strike
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which would effectively allow them to remain in a position to become a nuclear power. that gang of eight briefing has not taken place. so the question, is why not? what is the administration hiding? from the elected representatives of the united states congress? if they're willing to stand mind their actions. our thought, prayers and full support will continue behind the members of the united states military who are in harm's way throughout the middle east. that's unwavering and unequivocal support for our service men and women. in the military. throughout the middle east.
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that is different than making sure that the trump administration in a democracy, follows the law, follows the constitution, and does what's in the best interests of the national security of the american people. thanks. reporter: [inaudible] speaker jeffries: haven't take on a look at it. reporter: [inaudible] speaker jeffries: haven't gotten an initial briefing from the white house. all we got from the white house was a so-called courtesy call with no explanation as to the rationale for the decision taken that could have serious consequences for the american people. i asked for a gang of eight briefing, it has yet to occur.
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and it's not clear to me what the administration is hiding from the congress and from the american people. if they have a case to make, come up to capitol hill and make it. in terms of the war powers act resolutions, because house republicans changed the rules in this congress, those resolutions would ordinarily be required to p presented for an up or down vote within 48 hours because they were privileged in nature. for some reason, house republicans don't want to have a full and comprehensive and swift debate on the war powers act issue before the american people. so they've changed the rules
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such that the resolutions aren't even eligible for a debate on the house floor until several weeks from now. that's outrageous. and house republican leaders are going to have to explain that to their own base which also does not want to see another dangerous, potentially disastrous middle eastern war. reporter: [inaudible] speaker jeffries: we have seen no evidence to date that an offense offensive strike of this nature
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was justified under the war powers act or the constitution. but the whole reason for the trump administration to undertake that process is to come up to capitol hill and convince the american people and their elected representatives in the house and in the senate. that hasn't happened. and what i can say is not a scintilla of evidence to date has been presented that i have seen to justify the notion that there was an imminent threat to the united states of america. if the administration has evidence to the contrary, come up to present it. we're not hard to find. i'm not hiding. and we've asked for a gang of eight briefing. tomorrow there will be an opportunity for every single member of the house to hear the information from the administration and hopefully they will present it in a manner that's comprehensive.
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it will be probed. it will be tested. it will be aggressively pushed become against. and then we'll see what the outcome is after that classified briefing. reporter: [inaudible] speaker jeffries: that's a question the administration has to provide to us and to the american people. reporter: [inaudible] speaker jeffries: i clearly think that there's no basis i have seen to justify his actions that involved end running the united states congress. the trump administration will have an ability to try to convince members of congress on both sides of the aisle that it was a justified action and ultimately convince the american people and that will begin tomorrow and we'll see what
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happens from there. there's no evidence that i have seen to justify the military strike that took place in the absence of securing congressional approval. reporter: these leathers were not taken -- [inaudible] speaker jeffries: i think a tool on the table right now is to continue to demand that the administration present itself before the united states congress and make the case to the american people as to why this extraordinary step has been taken. that's step one. step two is for the war powers resolution, whether that's the one that's already been introduced or others that may subsequently be introduced, for those resolutions to be debated on the house floor.
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as should have occurred already. and then we'll see where we're at thereafter. this is a dangerous moment that we're in and we've guilty to get through what's in front of us. what's in front of us right now is the trump administration has a responsibility to come to congress, just his actions for which we've seen no evidence to justify its offensive strike in iran. and we don't even know effective the strike has been. there's zeroe evidence that i've seen that the nuclear program was completely and totally obliterated as donald trump has clayed. in evidence that has been presented to congress to suggest that that has occurred. let's see what happens at the classified briefing tomorrow.
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the approach taken by president barack obama, which i strongly supported, to prevent iran from becoming a nuclear-capable power which is a goal that all of us should share, and i do, is aggressive diplomacy. when president obama entered into discussions to try to secure a nuclear agreement to prevent iran from becoming capable of developing a nuclear weapon, it was a discussion that involved diplomacy from the united states, great britain, france, germany, russia, and
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