House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries snapped at CNBC host Rebecca Quick on Friday as she pressed him on getting a bipartisan deal on healthcare passed.
Jeffries is currently seeking a three-year rather than a two-year extension on Biden-era subsidies in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which Republicans are not open to. During an appearance on “Squawk Box,” Jeffries became visibly angry at Quick after she suggested that he wants the tax credits to lapse in order to allow Republicans “to hang themselves.”
“It’s important context to make me realize that I don’t think you want to get a deal done. I think this is something where you’d like to see the rates go higher and allow the Republicans to hang themselves with that. Is that the answer? Is this politics?” Quick said.
“That’s absolutely a ridiculous assertion,” Jeffries said. “Three years is not going to get passed, so what do you do? Shame on you for saying that. It’s not a partisan issue for us. In fact, the states that are most impacted as it relates to an Affordable Care Act tax credit expiration are all Republican states.”
Democrats voted for the longest shutdown in U.S. history, which began on Oct. 1, because the Republican-led funding bill did not include the ACA tax credits in return for their support. The government reopened after 43 days without the extensions, which angered many Democrats such as Jeffries.
Quick argued that they could get the extensions passed if lawmakers came up with a bipartisan deal, which could include a one or two-year extension.
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“Listen, this is not a partisan fight for us. It’s a patriotic fight,” Jeffries continued. “We’re fighting for every constituent, even if Republicans aren’t necessarily fighting for their own constituents. We want to find a bipartisan path forward, and that is what we’ve repeatedly indicated we want to do. Like, we want to sit down and have a reasonable discussion, find common ground to address this issue. Now, Republicans said in the House they were willing to deal with the Affordable Care Act tax credit issue after the government funding agreement was reached.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson has not made any promises to hold a vote on the extensions. Senate Majority Leader John Thune agreed to hold a vote on the tax credits in exchange for earning Democrats’ votes to reopen the government.
Jeffries stated that Republicans have had a whole year to find a deal on the extensions and have refused. Quick argued that a one-year extension would give both parties more time to come up with a longer term plan rather than immediately calling for a three-year extension that Republicans appear unwilling to sign onto.
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