On the heels of a hours-long sit-in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building on Sunday, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader, warned of what is come if President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda–aided by Republicans in Congress–is implemented.
“People will die,” said Jeffries during a Monday press conference where he slammed the Republican Party’s budget framework that intends to expand tax cuts for high income earners, increase spending for the military and border security, and implement massive cuts to domestic programs.
Democrats have for months warned the Trump and Republican agenda will lead to a collapse in critical funding that millions of low-income and poor Americans rely on to survive.
Most notably, the GOP budget plan calls for $880 billion in savings over the next 10 years, which Democrats say will inevitably lead to major cuts to Medicaid, citing a nonpartisan report from the Congressional Budget Office. The health insurance program provides affordable care for low-income adults and people with disabilities. Other programs like the food assistance program, SNAP, and the early education program, Head Start, are also being targeted by Republicans and the Trump White House for cuts or elimination.
“They’re going to hurt children, hurt families, hurt seniors, hurt people with disabilities, close hospitals, shut down nursing homes…This is a matter of life and death at this moment,” Jeffries told reporters.
Thousands of Americans have protested over several weeks in opposition to actions taken by the Trump administration, including the mass firings of federal workers. Angry constituents have been turning out at Congressional town halls in both Democratic and Republican districts in outrage over existing and proposed cuts as inflation continues to persist and fears of rising costs remain.
Seemingly in response to calls for Democrats to do more to oppose Republicans, despite having little to no power as the minority party, Jeffries joined Senator Cory Booker on the steps of the Capitol for a sit-in to condemn the Trump and GOP agenda.
Jeffries explained on Monday that the 12-hour-long sit-in was modeled after former congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis, who died in 2020 of pancreatic cancer. Lewis, who led voting rights protesters in a 1965 march in Selma, Alabama, in what is now known as Bloody Sunday, famously led Democrats by sitting in to protest a Republican bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
“Many of us, as we are navigating through these challenging times, will ask the question, ‘What would John Lewis have done?’ And in this particular instance, when the healthcare of the American people was threatened, we know the answer,” said Jeffries. “And it’s clear that he would say, Never give up, never give in, go out there and get into some good trouble. That’s why we sat down on the Capitol steps yesterday.”
As Republicans work to sidestep Democrats and pass Trump’s agenda through a legislative process called reconciliation, Congressman Jeffries said meanwhile President Trump has not kept his campaign promise to bring down costs on day one.
“Donald Trump lied about his willingness to lower costs in America and drive down the high cost of living…Costs aren’t going down,” he noted. “Donald Trump is crashing the economy, and Republicans in the Congress…are actively letting it happen.”
