House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) insists his party is “effectively” the majority in the House.
During an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” the New York Democrat told journalist Norah O’Donnell, “Even though we’re in the minority, we effectively have been governing as if we were in the majority because we continue to provide a majority of the votes necessary to get things done. Those are just the facts.”
“It’s a difficult situation on the other side of the aisle, because many of my Republican colleagues are more interested in creating chaos, dysfunction, and extremism,” Jeffries insisted.
Watch the video below:
The interview comes as House Democratic leadership has vowed to help quash Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) after he paved the way for the chamber to pass a series of foreign aid packages.
Greene is expected to force a vote on the motion to vacate the chair this week.
Jeffries told O’Donnell the speaker did not ask for help from Democrats, and added, “Our view would traditionally be, ‘Let the other side work its own mess out.”
However, he said, “But when that mess starts to impact the ability to do the job on behalf of the American people, then the responsible thing at that moment might be for us to make clear that we will not allow the extremists to throw the Congress and the country into chaos.”
Greene shared a clip of Jeffries speaking in the interview on X and wrote, “House Republicans know this is true and Hakeem Jeffries started controlling the House when Johnson became Speaker. Anyone that hears this and still defends Mike Johnson’s Speakership is ok with Uniparty control.”
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
Sound up!
House Republicans know this is true and Hakeem Jeffries started controlling the House when Johnson became Speaker.
Anyone that hears this and still defends Mike Johnson’s Speakership is ok with Uniparty control. pic.twitter.com/LXFO9iYbjP(@RepMTG) May 6, 2024
She added in a separate post, “Hakeem Jeffries is the shadow Speaker because Mike Johnson has fully surrendered!!”
