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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Monday called out President Donald Trump for a “stone-cold lie” about the ongoing government shutdown, disputing his claim that Republicans are negotiating its reopening with Democrats in good faith — or at all.
Jeffries appeared on the “MeidasTouch Podcast” to provide listeners with an update on the shutdown, which began last week amid a tense standoff between Republicans and Democrats over measures aimed at protecting health insurance for millions of Americans.
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Jeffries replied bluntly when asked by host Ben Meiselas whether Trump was lying.
“Well, as far as I can tell, that’s a stone-cold lie, because I have no idea who the president, the Trump administration, [Vice President] JD Vance, [House] Speaker [Mike] Johnson, [Senate Majority Leader] John Thune or any of that crew are talking to,” said Jeffries.
“Because they certainly aren’t talking to House Democratic leadership,” he continued.
Jeffries reiterated that there’s “no evidence” in the slightest that Republicans “are talking to anybody” about their purported efforts to reopen the government, citing “communication” with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who later spoke with Meiselas himself.
“There’s no negotiations going on,” Schumer told the host. “Trump said there was, and we contradicted him. And actually, just a couple of hours ago, even his own press secretary had to refute what he said. And you know why he’s saying this? He’s feeling the heat.”
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Bipartisan negotiations have been virtually nonexistent since the shutdown commenced, despite Trump claiming as recently as Monday during a press conference, “We have a negotiation going on right now with the Democrats that could lead to very good things.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that same day during a press briefing that Trump hasn’t spoken to congressional Democrats since before the shutdown began, however, and said, “His position is very clear. There’s nothing to negotiate.”
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Leavitt also repeated the Republican talking point that Democrats are fighting for “free health care for illegal aliens.” However, undocumented immigrants are ineligible for federal health care programs.
Democrats are proposing to reverse recent Medicaid cuts enacted by the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill” and to extend subsidies for people who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.
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Earlier this year, Schumer was criticized by fellow Democrats for caving to the GOP or blatantly absconding his political leverage, but he told Meiselas this week that the party has “done a very good job of letting the American people know how important this issue is” this time.
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“We’ve let them know that the reason that Republicans have this Trump shutdown is they won’t even talk to us about the issue,” he said Monday. “So this idea that they’re negotiating with us is utter bull.”