House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said Friday he is aligned with incoming Oversight Committee Chair Robert Garcia (D-CA) on holding the Trump administration accountable, days after Garcia posted a blunt “LAWYER UP” message outlining plans to investigate the Trump family for possible crimes in the next Congress.
Asked on NPR’s “Morning Edition” whether he was on the same page as Garcia, Jeffries told co-host Leila Fadel, “Yeah, well, we’ve repeatedly made clear over the last two years that we’ve got to relentlessly make life more affordable for the American people, while at the same period of time, visit[ing] accountability on those who have been engaged in lawbreaking, norm-breaking, and unleashing unprecedented corruption on the American people.”
Fadel had noted that Jeffries previously said Americans want Democrats focused on affordability rather than “getting even,” then asked whether that stance squared with Garcia’s more combative posture.
Jeffries said the two goals are not in conflict. “It’s my expectation — and we’re working closely, of course, with Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee and Democrats on the Oversight Committee, who will lead our accountability efforts, along with all of the relevant committees across the Congress, because the levels of corruption have been unprecedented,” he said.
“We’ve made clear to the American people, that, if you have folks out there who have been stealing from the American people, shortchanging the American people, or screwing over the American people, we’re going to hold the crooks accountable.”
Jeffries said Democrats intend to “function like a separate and co-equal branch of government,” contrasting that with House Republicans, whom he accused of acting as “nothing more than a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump’s extreme agenda.”
“We’ve got to follow the facts, we’ve got to apply the law, we’ve got to be guided by the Constitution, and we have to deliver a government of the people, by the people, and for the people,” he said.
Jeffries also said there will be discussions within the Democratic caucus about impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
