Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke on the House Floor, where he emphasized that the American people are suffering under the Trump-Republican economy and that President Trump’s tariffs are making life unaffordable for many Americans.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this rule, another reckless effort by the Republican majority to stop this House from doing something to stop the reckless Trump tariffs.
Mr. Speaker, the House of Representatives, part of this Congress, is a separate and co-equal branch of government. We don’t work for Donald Trump. We don’t work for JD Vance. We don’t work for Republican billionaire donors. We work for the American people. And the Constitution, Mr. Speaker, gives this House the explicit authority with respect to tariffs. And yet, because apparently my Republican colleagues have been ordered by the current President not to allow an up-or-down vote on whether his tariffs are harmful to the American people, once again, we find ourselves discussing a rule to limit the ability of this Congress to act on behalf of the American people. This is consistent with what we’ve seen from the Republican majority, Mr. Speaker, from the very beginning of this Congress, which unfortunately continues to act like nothing more than a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump’s extreme agenda, an agenda that’s not helping the American people. It is hurting the American people.
Yes, we have a cost-of-living crisis in this country. I know the President doesn’t wanna talk about it. He thinks it’s a Democratic hoax. No, the affordability crisis in this country is not a hoax. It is very real. Working class Americans, middle class Americans and everyday Americans are suffering because of the failed Trump-Republican economy. Donald Trump—his words—promised to lower the high cost of living on day one. More than a year later, in the United States of America, Mr. Speaker, costs haven’t gone down. Costs have gone up. Housing costs out of control. Healthcare costs out of control. Child care costs out of control. Electricity bills out of control. And the price of groceries and everyday goods completely out of control. And one of the reasons why the cost of living continues to crush the American people is because of the Trump tariffs, which have imposed thousands of dollars in additional costs on everyday Americans, making life even more expensive than it had been when this presidency began.
Why is it so complicated for Donald Trump to keep his promise to the American people to lower costs, to focus on making life more affordable? Instead, he’s gone the opposite direction, imposing tariffs on our allies in Canada and Mexico, in Europe, across the world, without any clear strategy, having an adverse effect on the pocketbook of everyday Americans. And this Congress is charged constitutionally with the ability to say yes or no as it relates to tariffs that have been imposed. In fact, the President should have sought our authorization. Instead, he’s using a fake emergency authority that hopefully the Supreme Court will make clear he does not have. And we certainly await that decision, but we don’t need to wait for that decision. We don’t work for the Supreme Court either.
The House, the Article 1 branch of government, the institution that the framers decided should be the part of government that’s closest to the American people, that reflects the hopes, the dreams, the aspirations, the fears, the concerns, the anxieties, the passions and the life experiences of the American people who are suffering right now in this failed Trump-Republican economy. That’s not just my simple observation. Fox News, the President’s favorite news source, in a recent public opinion survey, concluded that more than 70% of the American people believe, correctly, the economy is a disaster under this President. And one of the reasons why it’s a disaster is because of the reckless Trump tariffs. And the Republican majority, Mr. Speaker, won’t even allow an up-or-down vote. That’s what this rule is about: silencing debate and the will of the people’s representatives to do something meaningful to make life more affordable for the American people.
And so, I asked some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who know that this so-called mandate that Republicans apparently believe they had in the aftermath of the November 2024 elections—parenthetically, by the way—what mandate do you really think you have in this House when you have the narrowest majority that any party has had since 1930 during the Great Depression? In fact, we also know you wouldn’t even be in the majority right now had you not stolen three seats from the people of North Carolina with mid-decade gerrymandering in 2024. So we don’t want to hear anything about mandate. The only mandate we have collectively is to make life more affordable for everyday Americans, to drive down the high cost of living, to stop burying your head in the sand, to stop being a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump’s extreme agenda, to stand up to him every now and then as part of a separate and co-equal branch of government. Stop the cult-like behavior, Mr. Speaker. It’s hurting your very constituents.
And so we have an opportunity, if we vote down this rule, to actually take up for consideration the resolution put forward by Congressman Meeks that would wipe out the unnecessary tariff imposed on our ally to the north in Canada. It’s a step that should have been taken a long time ago, but Republicans have been blocking this vote. And I just hope that a handful of Republicans will join every single House Democrat in opposing this rule so we can get to a debate on the actual substantive effort to stop the reckless and dangerous and harmful Trump tariffs as part of our commitment as Democrats to do what’s necessary to lower the high cost of living and to make sure that every single American in this country, when you work hard, when you play by the rules, you should be able to live an affordable life, a comfortable life and live the good life. Not too much to ask for in the wealthiest country, America, in the history of the world. Work hard, play by the rules, live the good life. Good-paying job, good housing, good healthcare, good education for your children and a good retirement, which means backing off your extreme attacks on Social Security and Medicare. That’s the Democratic commitment. And in order to help bring about that good life, Mr. Speaker, one of the most meaningful things that we can do as a body is to stop the harmful Trump tariffs. Vote no against this rule.
The Floor speech can be watched here.
###