doing. [. [indiscernible chatter] president biden: we are going to deal with the debt ceiling and things are going and i will be at my commencement speech at air force academy. hopefully we will be one step closer. hope hope -- [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023] captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org. >> more from capitol hill, house

minority leader jeffries held a conference ahead of today's votes on the debt limit and federal spending bill.

mr. jeffries: i'm go thing to support the legislation that is on the floor today and i support it without hesitation, reservation or trepidation, not because it is perfect but we cannot allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. and president biden did an incredibly good job under difficult circumstances in protecting some key priorities and values for the well-being of the american people. this process has been one where

the extreme maga republicans were determined to take the country down one of either two directions, door number one, dramatic draconian cuts that would adversely hurt the safety, well-being of the american people and they were going to use a hostage-taking situation to force those extreme right-wing cuts down the throats of the american people. door number two, if they are unable to get the draconian, dramatic, devastating cuts consistent of what was in their extreme default in america act that they passed on the floor, and george santos, if they were

unable to get the default in america act, they were willing to walk america through door number two. and door number two was a devastating, dangerous default. crash the economy, trigger a job-killing rescission session. because as many indicated, including the chair of the republican national committee that they believed that a default and crashing of the economy would benefit them politically in 2024. those are the options they presented to the american people. so i'm thankful for the leadership of president joe biden, who found a third path and third path that does three

important things, one, it avoids a devastating default, avoids crashing the economy, avoids a job-killing recession here in america and throughout the world and avoids hurting millions of every day americans. the second thing that president biden and his team were able to do successfully in partnership with house democrats and senate democrats every step of the way, was to make sure that america would not be forced in another hostage-taking situation for the balance of this congress. and it was incredibly important to make that the debt ceiling was suspended through the early

part of 2025. since the american people don't have to be subjected to this type of turmoil for the balance of this year and all throughout next year and gives us the space to work through how we can prevent this type of hostage-taking situation legislatively, legally or administratively ever again. and then the third important thing that the biden administration was able to accomplish is that they protected some things that were incredibly important to the american people, all of which were on the chopping block because of the extreme republicans and ran some --

ransom demands but because president biden held the line, some very important things were protected in this resolution. president biden protected social security. president biden protected medicare. president biden protected medicaid. president biden protected veterans. president biden protected the inflation act. president biden protected the clean energy tax credits that will be transformational. president biden protected billions of dollars in funding to combat environmental injustice. and president biden protected the american people from the types of devastating cuts proposed by right-wing extremists that would have hurt millions of every day americans. that was all accomplished as a

result of this resolution. and i'm thankful for the leadership of president biden. house democrats who stoned behind him and his administration and senator schumer. i yield to the house whip, who has held this caucus together in such an extraordinary way, from the first week of the 1818th congress through the default on america act where every single house democrat opposed the extreme maga legislation giving the administration tremendous strength in the negotiating room all the way through making sure that every single democrat, new deems, blue dogs, all points in

between signed the discharge petition tore strengthen the leveraging that the biden administration needed to bring about an outcome that protected the well-being of the american people. mr. clarke: we are inspired -- ms. clark: we are still to this day to have cast 3, 179 votes for jeffries. but today, let me start off with what we know. three months since president biden released his budget and his vision how to invest in the american people and at the same time reduce our deficit and every day since it has been democrats and the president who have been fighting on the side of the american people. it is democrats who have been

the adults in the room. it is democrats who have prioritized americans over political gam mansship and democrats who opposed this maga hostage situation. it is democrats who have been clear, we will not allow this country to suffer a devastating default. the question is whether republicans today will join us and do the right thing. this is a bill that speaker mccarthy negotiated when his predecessor negotiated an agreement on the debt ceiling, she guaranteed votes from the vast majority of her caucus. no one is will will will will rl doing it but he should be able to produce 150 votes from this

majority. that should be on the table. and the fact that it is still an open question. the fact that we don't know if the votes are there, that he is depending on democrats to revert disaster, that is a reflection of the maga and ideological rock that has taken hold of the republican party. like all of you, i can't wait to see the final tally, but this caucus will remain unified with the president and with the american people in this fight. and i am very proud to yield to our chairman, who has been helping us at every step of the way to keep our caucus informed and together, and that's chairman pete aguilar. mr. aguilar: thanks to whip

clark and leader jeffries and thank you for the unity of purpose that democrats exude every day, this week will bring an end to the republican-led and republican-manufactured crisis. house democrats look forward to continuing to tout the achievements. but what we reflect on this week, this wasn't about deficits, this was never about deficits tom republicans, they turned every reasonable opportunity to close loopholes that would affect our deficits. they want to stand behind their billionaire friends so they can pay less than teachers on tax rates than teachers in san bernardino. that's what this is about. and they are going to show us

throughout the summer. our prediction is they are going to mark up a tax bill that will blow a hill in the deficit. this is about them each and every step of the way protecting billionaire friends. house democrats stand poised to help, stand poised to be the adults in the room and be assured we will put this crisis behind us. we have had a number of briefings with the administration officials. i am appreciative of them and continue to the president standing for social security, medicare and medicaid. in this deal, they are protected. a number of administration briefings, six briefings. the administration spent two hours of briefing house democrats and appreciate their willingness to do that and a partner in that process that all

the members that were on these zooms and calls, but a partner in this has been ted lieu. mr. lieu: let me thanking rm will representative jeffries and katherine clark. and what you have seen is president biden and house democrats have remained calm, cool and collected in the face of repeated republican chaos. this is a g.o.p. manufactured chaos and routine vote. three times it happened under the former president with no fanfair. but they have taken us to the brink of a disaster and democrats aren't going to let it happen. what we have seen from president

biden, he gets stuff done. president biden and democrats are rebuilding your roads, bridges and highways and we negotiated to bring back high tech manufacturing to america. we negotiated the pack act to protect our veterans. this bipartisan agreement today protects all of those historic laws. and in particular, as a voter myself, i am pleased that this agreement fully funds veterans' health care at the insistence of democrats. not that long ago that they cut veterans' funding by 22%. because of leadership of president biden we restored that funding and as well as toxic exposure funds and because of that, i will be supporting the

bill today. and i yield back to leader jeffries. mr. jeffries: thank you. questions. reporter: speaker mccarthy negotiated this bill and white house is negotiating this bill. what is your message to progressive members to say those work requirements shouldn't have been on the table? mr. jeffries: same message is the same message i delivered in my conversations to all of the house democrats throughout the last several days as we have been working through receiving information from the administration and in the context of the discussion earlier today. now, speaker mccarthy and the house republicans have been negotiating or in terms of both the house and the senate in this context. so as katherine clark it is our

expectation that republicans will produce 2/3 of their conference to support a resolution that they negotiated after driving the country into a hostage-taking situation on the brink of default. 150 votes is what the house republicans need to produce consistent with what they've agreed to do in terms of getting this bill over the finish line. house democrats are going to make sure that the country does not default, period, full stop. we will continue to be responsible stewards of our economy. and we will not let middle-class americans, working families, seniors, veterans, the poor, the

sick and the afflicted be hurt by a dangerous g.o.p.-manufactured default. we will not let that happen. but at the same time, it is more for house republicans to do their part in supporting a resolution that they themselves negotiated. reporter: you are saying democrats are unifying behind this deal -- mr. jeffries: i didn't say that. we are unified in rm avoiding a default and why the country in this situation and unified behind the leadership that president biden has provided. reporter: in order to avoid a default you are going to say no. is this fracturing the conference and how do you mend

those relationships? mr. jeffries: the conference is not fractured and i had a conversation with her. great clyburn had. we are going to be unified and make sure we are going to avoid a default and unified in building an economy that works for every day americans from the middle out and from the ground up. and we look forward to taking on some additional fights for the american people, including stopping the extreme maga republicans trying to jam another tax give-away down the throats of the american people and we will continue to unify. [indiscernible question] this 1% budget cut.

what does that say for the appropriations process later this year? how is it going toll affect how things are going to go? and how is it going to work? mr. jeffries: we all have full confidence in the house democratic leader on the appropriations committee, rosa delauro once and future chair of the appropriations committee to defend democratic priorities to fight for the working class, older americans and those who aspire to be part of the middle class and vulnerable americans and as we resolve this default crisis and hand over the reins to the appropriations committee, we couldn't be in better hands.

>> how many democrats will need to deliver on the bill itself and the rule itself? mr. jeffries: on the rule, i'll defer to katherine clark. on the precise number, we don't have a number. house republicans need to keep their commitment to produce 150 votes for the resolution that they themselves negotiated. and when that happens, democrats are going to make sure that there is no default. ms. clark: the majority is responsible for passing the rule. [indiscernible question] mr. jeffries: the majority is responsible for ensuring the passage of the rule. but we will not allow a default

to happen. reporter: you used the phrase hostage taking. at the end of the day everyone negotiated over the debt ceiling. what does it mean the next time? mr. jeffries: president biden and house and democrats that we were going to proceed on parallel tracks from the very beginning and what those tracks meant for us, it would avoid a default and that whatever resolution occurred relative to the spending side of the equation related to appropriations process had to match in duration suspended the debt ceiling. 10 years in exchange for an 11

or 12 month suspension of the debt ceiling. are you kidding me? give us a break. that was their possession position. and that's not the resolution. reporter: did you have to pledge a certain number of democrats to get through this? representative jayapal said it would have been better had house democrats have had more voice and if you had a more presence at the negotiating table, do you agree with that? mr. jeffries: i am thankful for her comments but i have full faith and believe all of us who certainly in president biden and in the team of designees that were in the negotiating room. every single member of the house creme chiropractic caucus has --

democratic caulk has -- caucus. she received a standing ovation from every single person because we have great confidence in her ability. it was enlightened addition when president biden put her in that room and she would defend our values, and she did. >> there have been democrats to hold their and then provide votes to prove a point. do you think this has been discussed and do you think this is appropriate action? mr. jeffries: no discussion in the meeting we had earlier today where all of the top democrats on standing committees or in the 2:15 meeting that we had in the caucus.

reporter: you did say that the republicans keep their commitment to 150 votes and then the democrats will. so what happens if they do not provide 150? what if they are sitting up there at 130? mr. jeffries: to be clear, it's our expectations that house republicans will provide 150 so votes as a floor. agreement that they themselves -- this is not an agreement that mitch mcconnell negotiated that came over from the senate that leader schumer negotiated. they were the ones who were in the room. and so it is reasonable for the american people to conclude that this is going to be a bipartisan resolution to a manufactured

default crisis that they created. in terms of functionality, you know, what happens during the 15-minute vote series or things of that nature, none of us have gotten into those mechanics because we have been very clear. we will not allow the country to default. america must always pay our bills and not let extreme maga republicans in the congress crash our economy and hurt every day americans, period, full stop. mechanically what that looks like on the house floor remains to be seen. reporter: thank you, leader jeffries, do you think the white house gave up too much in that they have said work requirements was a red line. they gave in to improved work requirements and what's your

reaction to some of the freedom caucus -- [indiscernible] mr. jeffries: we'll cross that bridge when we get to it and no discussion over the last several days in any of the meetings that we have had as it relates to any hypothetical motion to vacate the chair. make sure that we prevent a catastrophic default. period, full stop. that's our mission. in terms of so-called work requirements which have been in law since 1996. this was a phony, fake talking point injected unnecessarily into this discussion. let's be clear about that, ok. overwhelming majority of people

who receive snap or tanf are already subject to work requirements because of the 1996 law. now, in this situation, i think president biden and his team did the best that they could, and, in fact, expanded eligibility for veterans, expanded eligibility in terms of snap for homeless and the unhoused, and expanded eligibility for young people who have aged out. that is an extraordinary accomplishment. and what the congressional budget office has had to say about this development speaks for itself. >> how do you feel about --

[indiscernible] mr. jeffries: i'm going to give an opportunity to have everyone offer some closing thoughts. pete. mr. aguilar: i would just echo what the leader said. house democrats stand poised to avoid this crisis personally from the vice chair and i, we appreciate the administration coming up here continuing briefings, the documentation that they have sent over to help members arrive at a decision that is best for their districts has been helpful. over the last 48 hours at the leader's request, we have had six deep dive briefings plus the caucus session this morning, nine hours over the last 48 hours house democrats have been digest ing information to make

the best to avert this republican-led crisis. we appreciate all of the information we have taken in and members will make the decision that is best for them. ms. clark: house democrats are very clear, there is no perfect negotiation when you are the victims of extortion. no one likes to pay a ransom note. and that's tonight's vote. the maga republicans, the extremists have taken them hostage offered as the leader set forth, a lose-lose proposition. we either have devastating cuts or lose 8 million jobs over night, spike the car loans and got close to default.

americans on the verge of retirement lost on average $20,000 of their lifesavings. this is how the maga extremists view the american people. it doesn't matter what will happen to them as long as they are winning their political game. who is at the center? families at home, workers, it's small businesses, full faith and credit of the united states and not only the recession and economic catastrophe could start here but trying erld globally. at a time when our president ace asserting the strength of our country here and abroad bringing manufacturing back and investing in infrastructure and climate resiliency, siding with ukraine and standing with democracies around the world, this is the vision of the republican

conference, that you put all that at stake? for what? for what? to make that winner circle so small that only the rich and well connected continue to prosper and willing to cut off opportunity for american families who are trying to get by, recover from the pandemic, get back on their feet? it's hard to take in because it is so cartoon-villain like. like a cartoon, the american people won't snap back up when you drop that economic anvil. and that is where we are and we are grateful to the leadership and what we anticipate what we are going to see from our democratic leaders in the senate and putting the american people

first and steering this country back to san antonio thy and reject -- sanity and rejecting extremism. mr. lieu: under the former administration, massive tax cuts benefited the top it's because under the former administration republicans passed a massive tax cut that benefited the top 1% and they don't want to bay for that. another reason we are here is because republicans took a routine vote and jack it up and puts on a road to disaster. president biden and democrats are standing strong and we are going to make sure our country does not default and that we in america remain the leader of the free world. mr. jeffries: thank you again to whip clark and chairman aguilar, vice chair lieu. over the last 72 hours the communication between the white house, the biden administration, and house democrats has been

clear, consistent, and comprehensive. and i thank the white house for making everyone available at the highest level. under the leadership on our side, chairman aguilar and vice chair lieu, to make sure there was a robust, active, authentic discussion so that every member can make an informed decision later on this afternoon and this evening as it relates to the legislation that will be in front of us and in front of the american people. what is clear is that president biden has succeeded in protecting the american people from some of the most harmful and aggressive things that the republicans were trying to jam down our throats.

protecting social security, protected medicare, protected medicaid, protected veterans, protected the middle class, all those who aspire to be part of it, working families, the poor, sick, and afflicted from the type of devastating cuts that extreme maga republicans were determined to enact. as a result of the efforts of the biden administration, we are going to be able to make sure here in the house and in the senate that america does not default. and that our economy does not crash. and we will all live to fight another day in fighting for the people. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy visit ncicap.org]

>> the house will be back at 7:15 p.m. eastern for a debate and final vote. the measure also caps nondef federal spending and increases work requirements for food amps and other government benefits. senateity leader chuck r sayshe bill will get once it passes the house, in an effortt the bill on president biden's desk ahead of monday's deadline to avoid a default. live when the house returns. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers and we're just getting started. building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. >> charter communications