Joined him at the briefing. Mr. Jeffries let me begin by expressing my condolences to the family of dianne feinstein, a legendary lioness of the United States senate, a towering public figure. So thankful for her life and legacy and all that she did to make life better for countless individuals in her beloved state of california, all across the country and as someone it is my expectation that the house will participate, certainly House Democrats, in any appropriate commemorations of her life and her service that take place here within the capitol and or in california as well. Once again maga republicans in the house have demonstrated their complete and utter inability to govern. We are in the middle of a republican civil war thats been ongoing for months and now threatens a catastrophic Government Shutdown that will hurt everyday american, hurt children, hurt military men and women, hurt veterans, hurt seniors, hurt families, hurt the economy. And there is absolutely no reason that we should be facing a Government Shutdown at this moment. There is a bipartisan continuing resolution making its way through the senate that would ensure the government doesnt shut down, that funding is available to meet the needs of the American People, that is free of any partisan poison pill ideological amendments, and that provides support for Everyday Americans who have been hit hard by extreme weather events and for the ukrainian war effort that is important to freedom and democracy and truth across the world. The Senate Bipartisan continuing resolution will emerge in that institution in the next few days and be sent over to the house of representatives. The only way forward is for House Republicans to put the bipartisan continuing resolution that emerges from the senate on the house floor for an up or town vote. And if House Republicans were to do that, we can avoid a catastrophic extreme maga republican Government Shutdown. Not that complicated. And all were asking House Republicans to do is to keep their word and adhere to the agreement that they themselves reached, voted for, and negotiated in may. Connected to their threat to default on americas debt. Why are we in this situation . Where extreme maga republicans seem determined to shut the government down. Its because the republicans and the right wing ideologues and the extremists in the howps want to cut Social Security, slash Public School funding and criminalize abortion care. That is their ransom demand. And if everybody else in the house and in the senate and within the Biden Administration declines to pay it, theyve basically made clear were shutting the government down. And people will be hurt. And its irresponsible but its in their d. N. A. House democrats met earlier today and we are unified in the position that we support the continuing resolution that is working its way through the senate and prepared, ready, willing, and able to vote for it the moment it crosses over to our side of the capitol. We just need House Republicans to do the right thing by the American People and put the bipartisan continuing resolution on the floor of the house of representatives for up or down vote. What is the alternative . They tried a partisan continuing resolution and they failed. And there is no way out of their republican civil war. The only path forward is to partner with House Democrats in a bipartisan way. And were prepared to do just that. It is now my honor to yield to our distinguished whip, katherine clark. Ms. Clark thank you so much, mr. Leader. I want to join in taking a moment to honor and remember senator feinstein. And just wanted to add to her incredible legacy is also one as a role model to women. First woman mayor of san francisco. Part of the 1992 year of the woman. And someone who has really smashed ceilings, Broken Ground for those of us who get to follow and stand on her shoulders. What a contrast to that legacy of service to what were witnessing in the house today. Another wasted day on voting on an extreme rightwing bill with zero chance of becoming law. Another day of fighting among the maga republicans. Another day wasted talking about deficits while failing to take up the bipartisan agreement we already entered into that would reduce the deficit by 1. 5 trillion. So now weeks after political theater, we are one day from a disastrous republican Government Shutdown. So lets take a moment to talk about the people who are truly at the center of this story. Its not Speaker Mccarthy. Its not Marjorie Taylor greene. Its not matt gaetz. Its the Service Members who will work without a paycheck. Its the firefighters who will be furloughed. Its the early educators who will have to leave their classroom. Its the moms and parents who will be left scrambling for child care. The maga shutdown comes down to this. House republicans have chosen extremism over everyday people. Theyve chosen abortion bans over baby formula. Theyve chosen teacher layoffs over the well being of our students. Theyve chosen cuts to Social Security, cuts to head start, cuts to the v. A. , over a commitment to our continued economic recovery. The house has been hijacked by extremist extremists obsessed with making life harder and more expensive for working people. It does not have to be this way. This impending disaster can still be averted. If just a handful of republicans would stop listening to donald trump. If just a few members would honor their oath of office and say, enough is enough. Its not too late to work for our country and not against it. Its not too late to come back from the edge. It is not too late to pass a bipartisan continuing resolution. And enact the agreement we reached and voted on back in may. But if House Republicans choose to inflict this needless pain, this needless chaos, if they choose to force the shutdown, i can tell you this. The American People know who is at fault and they are not going to forget that this was brought to us by extremists in the house g. O. P. And with that, it is my pleasure to yield to our caucus chair pete aguilar. Mr. Aguilar thank you, whip clark, i appreciate your words about our senior senator as well and to the leader who echos the sentiment toafs Democratic Caucus. I joined members of the california delegation and senator schumer and leader mcconnell on the senate floor this morning as some of the senators made a tribute made tributes to senator feinstein and it struck me that my senator, alex padilla, also recounted how senator feinstein was one of his first bosses in politics and to the opportunity to get to serve alongside her. She was one of my earliest supporters in california politics. The fact that she would help out a young guy from the inland empire from outside of l. A. , outside of san francisco, and support me, in what was a crowded primary, meant a lot to me. She talked a lot about holding up young leaders, men and women, to succeed and follow in her footsteps. Earlier today, just a few hours ago, Democratic Caucus met and leader jeffries and whip clark are doing an amazing job in keeping our caucus together. Talking about lowering costs, creating goodpaying job, building safer communities. Every step of the way House Democrats have put people over politics. And its been impacted by extreme maga republicans who continue to have the shutdown on their minds. That is their focus. That is who they are and what they believe. And as whip clark said this is about women and children who will go without food assistance. Service members who will have to work without pay. Law enforcement officers and Border Patrol agents being sent a clear message that they are not a priority for House Republicans. The people are losing faith in their government because they look at our own Nations Capital and they see the republican extremism and the chaos that has driven the other side. It doesnt have to be like this. In fact, this was all completely avoidable. As whip clark mentioned. Theres a simple and commonsense solution that the leader articulated. Last bipartisan path. House republicans can work with House Democrats, Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans to do whats right on behalf of the American People. We can live up to the agreements and the discussions we have had to Work Together. Thats the only path out. [no audio] leader jeffries. Mr. Jeffries any questions . Reporter most likely outcomes of putting the Senate Bipartisan c. R. On the floor is potentially any of the members who voted against it could oust Speaker Mccarthy from his job have you had conversations within your caucus about saving the speaker . I know one member of yours referenced that whip clark, you talked about the fact that there would need to be concessions. What would those look like in what are your conversations around that . Mr. Jeffries we met for about an hour and 15 minutes today. The subject didnt come up and i dont expect it will come up. Our focus right now is making sure we avoid a catastrophic shutdown. That will have real, adverse, painful consequences on the American People. Including making sure that children and women and infants receive food necessary, lifesustaining food, necessary, that will be taken away from them. Servicemens. Service members, will be forced to work without pay. Youve got Small Businesses unable to receive loans necessary to continue their entrepreneurship. The consequences are endless. So honestly our focus right now is on doing everything that we can to avoid this extreme maga republican shutdown. And to the extent that there will be efforts subsequent to any resolution of this as part of the as part of the ongoing republican civil war, well cross that bridge when we get to it. Reporter have there been any talk with Kevin Mccarthy and the republicans about what to do at this point . Any conversations . I know you talked about the talked to the problem solvers caucus. Is there anything out there thats not obvious to us that you can share that might be a pathway out of this . Mr. Jeffries theres only one path out of the reckless republican effort to shut down the government which is to take the bipartisan continuing resolution that is working its way through the United States senate and when it arrives at the house, put it on the floor for an up or down vote, and everyone in this town knows the bill will pass. And when it does, we can avoid the extreme maga republican shutdown. Reporter no talk, no, we can come back and talk . Mr. Jeffries everything i have said publicly, ive communicated privately to Speaker Mccarthy. Well get beyond the front row in a moment. Reporter were pretty much right there at the shutdown. I know youre waiting for the senate to send the bill over are. You has the subject of a discharge petition come up in the caucus . We know mccarthy said he will not bring up that bill. Are you thinking about a discharge petition . Mr. Jeffries all procedural options are on the Table Including the discharge petition. Well see where he land as early as this weekend. Reporter youre talking about republicans talking about asking republicans to keep their word. What makes you think you could trust Speaker Mccarthy after the last few weeks . Mr. Jeffries House Democrats are aligned with Senate Democrats, ill let pete and katherine weigh in on this one. House democrats are aligned with Senate Democrats. Two of us are aligned with Senate Republicans. All of us are alooned with President Biden. In sticking to the spending agreement reached in may as part of the resolution of the g. O. P. Manufactured default crisis. All four of those political entities, House Democrats, senate republican, senate democrat, the Biden Administration, were all aligned. The extreme maga republicans are the only ones who are on an island right now and they cant even get their act together amongst themselves because theyre in the middle of a civil war. And one group wants to be more extreme than the other group. So even their effort to pass a continuing resolution amongst themselves failed spectacularly. So whats the only option . The only option is for House Republicans to partner with House Democrats as well as our colleagues in the senate who are all aligned with each other to move a bipartisan continuing resolution to the floor so we can avoid this catastrophic shutdown. Thats the most obvious approach and it is the only a way forward. Ms. Clark when we talk about trust, theres not much trust. What we had, we go back to just four short months ago, was a manufactured default crisis. Holding our economy as we are beginning to recoverer from this pandemic. Putting the pieces with the Biden Administration in place so that everyone has opportunities in this economy and we can drive down costs. They put out a bill in the end of april that was as bad as the c. R. We just saw them vote on today. And the picture they are willing to take everything, whether it is Social Security and medicare, a National Abortion ban, removing teachers out of the classroom. To pursue this extreme agenda. And we met them with this manufactured crisis and said, we want to put the American People first. And so were going to come to an agreement that Speaker Mccarthy negotiated with the president of the United States. 314 votes in the house of representatives. The ink was not dry when Speaker Mccarthy again said to the American People, i dont choose you, i choose Marjorie Taylor greene. And the extreme part of my conference. So the answer is right in front of the house g. O. P. And it is why the leader said they are isolated now in this. Because everyone else understands we have to stick with that agreement. The blueprint for moving forward. Which was a compromise. Is right there for the taking. And it is only Speaker Mccarthy who is refusing to lead his caucus in that direction. Mr. Aguilar i completely agree. What i would say, what ive said before from this podium, is, this was completely avoidable. We had an agreement. We could have worked through it. Instead, Speaker Mccarthy chose to listen to the most extreme voices in his conference. As a result, to your question, nick, i think that there are huge concerns, whether, even if he agreed to something it could be believed. And so i think for us and our members, its going tyke a group of republicans in order to come to the able and have come to the table and haven an agreement. To lisas question, we dont lack legislative vehicles in order to solve this crisis. What we lack are real legislators on the republican side who are willing to stand up to Marjorie Taylor greene and the extreme voices in the conference to actually solve this problem and to prevent cuts that hurt our kids in their classroom. That take food away from families that need it. Thats what we are talking about. Thats what we are fighting for. Those are the real struggles that we have under this dome. Reporter last weekend there was House Republicans notably, congressman moll narro molinaro and others, who said they would consider a discharge petition. Have you been talking to them . Where are they right now . Have you spoken to them . Mr. Jeffries thats a great question. These socalled moderate members of the Republican Caucus have been missing in action. All talk, no action. There is a vehicle in front of us right now to come together with the democratic members of the house to avoid a catastrophic Government Shutdown. There are a variety of different procedural vehicles that are available to us including a disdharnlg petition. On of which that is live and all we would need are six republicans to partner with us and we can move legislation to the floor that would end this f. O. P. Government shutdown and this National Nightmare for the American People. But all weve seen from the very beginning of this congress are socalled moderate members doing their best to project reasonableness but every opportunity theyve been given to partner in a bipartisan way, theyve run to the extremes. Hopefully that will change. In the next day or so. Up against a Government Shutdown that will hurt people in new york and all across the country. But im not holding my breath. Reporter you talked about the impact on people that included in that group are can you talk about the conversations yall are having. Mr. Jeffries we are thankful for our staff. Theyre hardwork, dedicate and committed. And they are in the roles that they serve for all of the right reasons. And our Staff Members understand that this is a moment of great challenge and crisis. And that were working to get through it. For the people that we all collectively are privileged to serve. And its my expectation that their morale will continue to be high. Because staffers on the hill are not in this role for selfaggrandize. Theyre in this role for selfless reasons to help out Everyday Americans and make their life better. And in the caucus meeting we had earlier today, the top democrat on the House Administration committee, joe morelli did talk through a lot of logistical dynamics of a shutdown. Hopefully well avoid that shutdown. But well continue to be there for our staff in every way possible. Reporter when is the last time you talked to the speaker about this impasse and what did you say to him . Mr. Jeffries i said to him privately everything ive said publicly. Which is that the only path forward is to put the continuing resolution coming out of the senate shortly on the floor of the house for an up or down vote. Thats the only way forward. Talked to him late last night. I expect to talk to him at some point in the next hour or so. Reporter do you think lawmakers should take a salary if last Government Shutdown . Mr. Jeffries i think every individual member has to make that decision on their own. Reporter last time the reason you got, democrats were willing to vote for the rule, which they normally dont do. If they bring up the rule again, republicans wont vote for it, do democrats vote for the rule . Mr. Jeffries we are ready, willing and able to vote substantively on legislation that would avoid a catastrophic default in terms of procedure procedural mechanisms in terms of what may be available to us, well have to cross that bridge when katherine this isnt a typical partisan fight. This is the extreme maga republicans versus the American People. And weve shown time and again were going to fight for them. Those are the voices we are bringing to this situation, to this debate. And its not about bailing out our colleagues, its about making sure we are doing right by families at home. Mr. Jeffries any other questions . Reporter can we talk about the flooding of new york city . Reporter i have a shutdown question for mr. Ing a lear. Mr. Aguilar. Yesterday we did the first impeachment inquiry from your colleagues. How did that work . Mr. Aguilar what the public saw was an absolute nightmare. The fact that republicans continue to proceed without facts and their own witnesses are saying they dont have any evidence to proceed says a lot. We appreciate and lift up Ranking Member raskin. Part of the connective tissue between that process and the committee and this one and trust that he and the Committee Members who did an amazing job asking questions of witnesses, looking to get to the truth. But clearly poking holes in this argument. And theres no there there. They have no evidence linking Vice President biden, President Biden to any high crime misdemeanor or any issue at all. So i think that thats i think the American Public sees the split screen and how methodical we were in answering questions and working through the material and they see this republican chaos for what it is and very much mirrors where we are on the shutdown, the manufactured shutdown crisis, too. Mr. Jeffries we said from the very beginning of this congress well Work Together to find Common Ground with the other side of the aisle whenever and wherever possible but also fight against their extremism whenever necessary. Unfortunately, my republican colleagues have refused to find ways to partner together far too often and instead continue to double and triple down on their extremism. Yesterday was a big example of the charade of the illegitimate impeachment inquiry that theyve launched. Two days before a Government Shutdown, they hold a hearing where their own witnesses testify theres nothing in the record to suggest mr. Biden committed a impeachable offense. So this is another example of republicans governing in fantasy land, bowing down to the extremists in their party and being distracted from taking care of business for Everyday Americans. We should be focused on dealing with building a healthy economy. We should be focused on solving problems for Everyday Americans. We should be focused on quality of life issues. We should be focused on public safety. We should be focused on making sure that our children receive a high quality public education. But the extreme maga republicans are focused on trying to drive their conspiracy theories and their right wing ideology down the throats of the American People and its a shame. Reporter can i ask you about the flooding were having in new york city. Mr. Jeffries were certainly monitoring the situation carefully and the governor and mayor, the congressional delegation are prepared to mobilize all available resources, wanting to make sure that theres no loss of life, that we address the risks that still appear to exist in new york city and we continue to find ways to deal with the Climate Crisis that is afflicting the nation and the world because if we fail to do so the extreme weather events will continue and intensify and thats not good for anyone. Thank you, everyone