It’s not often that you hear yelling matches break out in private Republican meetings, but that’s exactly what sources told me happened during a recent call among MAGA House members. Reports describe Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw shouting in frustration over MAGA Mike Johnson’s strategy to keep Republicans away from Washington while the government remains shut down. Their constituents are furious, and it’s easy to see why. The government has been closed for nearly a month, millions are losing access to food assistance, and health care costs are about to skyrocket.
Meanwhile, Speaker Johnson continues to hold press conferences each day that become increasingly unhinged and deranged. The actual images of the House tell the story. The Democratic side of the chamber is full and working, while the Republican side is empty. As Democrats try to protect health care and food security for millions, Republicans are literally out to lunch.
That’s what I was excited to catch up with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries earlier. “It’s day 28 of the Trump Republican shutdown,” he said. “Republicans continue to refuse to sit down and have a bipartisan discussion. We’ve made clear we’ll have a conversation anytime, anyplace, with anyone… to reopen the government and address the Republican health care crisis that’s crushing everyday Americans.”
Jeffries laid out the stakes clearly: “Tens of millions of people are on the verge of dramatically increased health care premiums, co-pays, and deductibles. Families could see costs go up by $10,000 or $20,000 per year. For people making around $63,000, that’s impossible.”
Since our last conversation, Donald Trump has been busy tearing down the East Wing of the White House to make room for a ballroom, handing $40 billion to Argentina, and taking bizarre trips to Asia. But back home, 42 million Americans are about to lose food benefits under SNAP, and millions more face losing their health coverage altogether. Yet Trump insists “inflation is defeated” and “America is prospering.” “Using our troops as props for his propaganda is disgraceful,” Jeffries said. “He’s lying to the American people.”
The reality, Jeffries noted, is the opposite. “Costs are going up—housing, groceries, child care, electricity. And Republicans have been on vacation for five weeks. Mike Johnson’s press conferences look like a Republican family reunion featuring crazy aunts and uncles talking gibberish.”
In our conversation, Jeffries also spoke about his recent travels through Illinois, Virginia, and California, where he’s working with Democratic leaders to counter Trump’s efforts to gerrymander congressional maps. “Donald Trump shouldn’t get to decide who’s in the majority,” he told me. “That decision belongs to the American people. We can’t allow Trump to rig the midterms through partisan maps.”
He praised California’s Prop 50, the statewide effort to stop Trump-backed redistricting, as a model for the rest of the country. “The American way of life is on the line,” Jeffries said. “This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. We cannot unilaterally disarm.”
In Illinois, Jeffries told me, state leaders are now weighing whether to revisit congressional maps to protect fair representation. “They understand this is existential,” he said. “Our Constitution, our democracy, our very system of checks and balances depend on it.”
The contrast between the two parties couldn’t be sharper. And for all the Democrats faults, let’s be clear that this is another issue to which there is no need to equivocate. This is a crisis of the Republicans’ making. We don’t need the both-sides coverage and the media bringing on a MAGA talking head on to tell you why it’s actually a good thing to let health care tax credits that keep Americans alive expire. Democrats are showing up, working, and protecting the programs that keep millions afloat. Republicans are staging press events, disappearing from Washington, and refusing to negotiate as they let their cult leader destroy everything in his wake both at home and abroad.
At the end of our interview, Jeffries’ left me with this simple message: “The American people continue to hold Republicans accountable for shutting the government down. It’s time for them to come back to work.”
I hope you enjoy with interview with Representative Jeffries. Like and share this post, and keep spreading the word. And thanks again for subscribing to the MeidasTouch Podcast on your favorite audio platforms, like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. We’ve got a new episode out right now with me and my brothers — I hope you enjoy it!
