House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries says budget bill should be killed
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is not weighing in on the public feud between President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk.
At a press conference Friday Jeffries focused on the Democrats efforts to kill the president's 'big, beautiful bill' and not the dustup between the two men.
'The opportunity that exists right now is to kill the GOP tax scam,' Jeffries said. 'It's legislation that we have been strongly opposed to, and uniformly opposed to, from the very beginning. … It rips health care away from millions of people. It snatches food out of the mouths of hungry children. And it rewards billionaires and donors in ways that are fiscally irresponsible.'
Democrats have taken a cautious approach to the feud since they've spent the last few months criticizing Musk and his efforts with DOGE to cut government spending.
Jeffries said the bill adds too much to the federal debt which the Congressional Budget Office estimates to be $2.4 trillion.
'And to the extent that Elon Musk has made the point that the bill is a 'disgusting abomination,' we agree. And to the extent that Elon Musk has made the observation about the GOP tax scam, that it is reckless and irresponsible to explode the deficit by more than $3 trillion, and that potentially could set our country on a path toward bankruptcy, we agree,' said Jeffries.
On Friday President Trump said he has no plans to talk to Musk to try and mend the rift while Senate Republicans continue their work on the bill.
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