But Democrats have not shown any public movement towards convincing Republicans to vote against the bill, and in one instance Jeffries himself seemed to dismiss the idea that his party had any leverage at all over the GOP — despite the likelihood that the entirety of his caucus will vote against it, putting the legislation permanently on the brink of failure.
“Democrats are going to continue to make clear that we will stand against the effort to end Medicaid as we know it, stand against the effort to detonate Social Security or Medicare, certainly stand against the effort to undermine veterans benefits or nutritional assistance to children and families,” said Jeffries.
And the top Democrat in the lower chamber could only brush off the concerns during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, while not providing any specifics as to how his party would halt plans by the GOP to introduce cuts to Medicaid and food stamps in order to power the extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts.
Jeffries was asked by the show’s host Jake Tapper about Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro — who was almost Kamala Harris’s running mate — criticizing Democrats in Congress for “failing to address the real concerns that people have” and not being a sufficient “check” on the power of Trump and his DOGE chief, Elon Musk.
He and Tapper went back and forth over which Republicans the House Democratic leader thought his party would have the best chance in turning against the budget legislation, while not providing any details or signs of success related to that effort.
