Top Democrats say House is controlled by ‘extreme MAGA Republicans’: Say it is ‘bad’ for the American people – and vow to stop ‘stupid stuff’ like a national abortion ban
- Rep Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) wants to make sure Congress increases the debt limit before the U.S. government defaults on obligations
- Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said he and McCarthy ‘agree to disagree strongly on a whole host of issues, but try not to be disagreeable’
- ‘We have 18 seats that Republicans are in that President Biden won in 2020, and so we have an incredible opportunity right there’: Rep. Suzan Del Bene (D-Wash.)
Top Democrats said their goal is to ‘just stop stupid stuff’ and ‘put people over politics’ as they took their first pass at a strategy for trying to take back the House in 2024.
In their year issues conference, House Democrats will huddle together and hear from top brass over the next few days as they lay out an agenda for fighting back against Republican control and teeing themselves up to take back the House in 2024.
‘We have 18 seats that Republicans are in that President Biden won in 2020, and so we have an incredible opportunity right there,’ Rep. Suzan Del Bene (D-Washington), chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), told reporters at the conference in Baltimore, Maryland.
‘We want to make sure that people see what the Republicans are – what their message is which is extreme. It is not focused on the needs of the American people.’
Democratic House Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York said that he and McCarthy ‘agree to disagree strongly on a whole host of issues, but try not to be disagreeable for the good of the functioning of the institution and the country’
‘When Republicans gain control, what’s one of the first things they did? They use significant resources of their committee staff and attention, time of their members to hold a congressional hearing about Twitter. So that’s a contrast we’ll be drawing,’ said Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said.
Lieu said the ‘stupid stuff’ included blocking a national abortion ban and making sure Congress increases the debt limit.
‘The idea that we’re going to be lectured by the people who consistently crashed the train whenever they’ve held power is ridiculous,’ added Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, saying that 25 percent of the nation’s debt was accumulated during Donald Trump’s presidency.
Jeffries frequently made use of some favorite Democratic buzzwords – ‘extreme MAGA Republican.’
The Democratic leader was asked about his relationship with Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which so far has been cordial despite their differences.
‘When Republicans gain control, what’s one of the first things they did? They use significant resources of their committee staff and attention, time of their members to hold a congressional hearing about Twitter. So that’s a contrast we’ll be drawing,’ said Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus
He said that he and McCarthy ‘agree to disagree strongly on a whole host of issues, but try not to be disagreeable for the good of the functioning of the institution and the country.’
‘However, one of the areas where we will strongly disagree is around the irresponsible effort by extreme MAGA Republicans to hold our economy hostage and risk a default on our debt— that would be catastrophic for the American people.’
McCarthy and President Biden are at loggerheads as Republicans insist on budget cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. President Biden is expected to release his budget next week.
Asked if McCarthy qualified as an ‘extreme MAGA Republican,’ he said: ‘The extreme MAGA Republicans are in control right now of the United States House of Representatives, and that’s a bad thing for the American people.’
