House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on the Democrats' fight against Trump

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats will "continue to sue the heck" out of the Trump administration as President Trump dismantles the federal government.

In an interview on Friday with Here & Now’s Robin Young, Jeffries said he is trying to channel angry Democratic voters who feel the party isn't doing enough to stand up to Trump.

“One, we have to continue to sue the heck out of them, which we've been doing, because look, at the end of the day, we've got the Congress, we've got the courts, and we have to win the hearts and minds of the American people,” Jeffries said. “And I know that people are understandably distressed and disturbed and disoriented by this flood the zone strategy.”

Democrats are angry and want to know where their party leaders are. Where are you in fighting back?

“The party continues to be on the front line, but most importantly we're fighting for the constituents that we represent, for the grandmother who's at risk of having her Social Security taken away, for the single mom who relies on Medicaid to provide health care to her child that the Republicans want to enact the largest Medicaid cut in American history. Every single Democrat is opposing that effort and we're gonna fight hard to stop the reckless Republican budget.”

But you don’t have the votes

“Let me make the point on that because our job is to make sure that we are actually channeling the energy, the anxiety, and the frustration, and that our votes do reflect the values of the American people.

“When we were in the minority during Trump one, there were 241 Republicans in the House of Representatives, only 194 Democrats. Right now, when Republicans are at their max, they're at 220. When we're at our max, we're at 215. If we stop the Affordable Care Act from being repealed, when we were deep in the minority during 2017, we cannot give up on stopping Republicans from trying to take away health care of the American people in 2025. It would be irresponsible to do that.”

What about Democratic your conversation with Former House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, where she reportedly told you to “use your power”?

“We meet regularly, and she has always said to all of us, make sure that we are using our power, which by the way, we did. Every single Democrat but one in the House of Representatives voted against the reckless Republican spending bill. We were a strong opposition just like all of us voted against the House Republican budget.”

How else can you demonstrate to Democrats that you have agency here? 

“I'm perplexed by that question because I represent people who are struggling in Central Brooklyn, in East New York, in Bedford-Stuyvesant, in Brownsville, in Coney Island. All of us represent people who have placed their confidence in us. We have agency in their quality of life. That's why we've been re-elected, and we're gonna continue to fight on their behalf. You know, I grew up in a working-class neighborhood, came of age in the middle of the ‘80s and ‘90s, right?

“My parents weren't of significant means. I was able to live the American dream, grew up in a household where both of them were public employees, so I know how important unions are to the American experience because it's been important to my experience. So, we're fighting for these things because it matters. These are our life experiences and we're going to continue to push back aggressively in the Congress, in the courts and in communities throughout America.”

What can you do about the cuts where Congress had already allocated money. Congress has the power of the purse, constitutionally. What can you do about that? 

“Well, one, we have to continue to sue the heck out of them, which we've been doing, because look, at the end of the day. We've got the Congress, we've got the courts, and we have to win the hearts and minds of the American people, and I know that people are understandably distressed and disturbed and disoriented by this flood-the-zone strategy. It's an intentional strategy, to try to distract us from what their real plan is, which is, one, they're crashing the economy in real time – they haven't been focused on lowering costs; they're raising costs; they want to take health care away from the American people. We're going to work hard to stop it, and it's all in service of trying to enact a massive tax cut for Elon Musk.”

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity. 

 Julia Corcoran produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Michael Scotto. Scotto adapted it for the web.