Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on CNN's State of the Union, where he emphasized that Republicans have repeatedly failed to lower costs for working families and Democrats will continue to push back against the Trump administration's plans to unleash more ICE agents in our communities and the endless war of choice in the Middle East that is costing taxpayers billions of dollars.

DANA BASH: We just heard from the White House about President Trump's plan to deploy ICE agents to airports tomorrow. I want to bring in House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Thank you for being here this morning, sir. What's your response to what Tom Homan revealed here?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, good morning. Great to be with you. There are three things that have been true since Donald Trump and Republicans came back into power last January: life is more expensive, life is more chaotic and life is more extreme. The last thing that the American people need are for untrained ICE agents to be deployed at airports all across the country potentially to brutalize or in some instances kill them. We've already seen how ICE conducts itself. These are untrained individuals when it comes to doing the current job that they have for the most part, let alone deploying them in close exposure in highly-sensitive situations at airports across the country.

DANA BASH: But it seems like it's happening. Tom Homan is in charge of it, and he's working on a plan right now. Is there any chance that there could be some kind of deal done soon? I mean, obviously, what the President is trying to do is squeeze lawmakers to try to finally come up with a plan to fund DHS.

LEADER JEFFRIES: It's unfortunate that Republicans have decided that they would rather force TSA agents to work without pay, inconvenience millions of Americans all across the country and now potentially expose them to untrained ICE agents and create chaos at airports throughout the land rather than get ICE agents under control. Our basic premise and value proposition from the very beginning has been simple. ICE should conduct itself like every other law enforcement agency in the country. But if Republicans are unwilling to get to an agreement in that regard, the one thing we can do immediately [is] to make sure that TSA agents are paid.And we know, Dana, there's bipartisan support for that. Senator Ted Cruz and Senator John Kennedy have recently indicated that they would support moving in that direction. Let's bring those bills to the floor in the House and the Senate tomorrow so we can get TSA agents paid.

DANA BASH: So, let me ask you about that because you are-the whole reason, as you just laid out, that DHS is not funded right now is because you're trying to push the administration to enact some policy changes on how Border Patrol and ICE act when they are out looking for illegal immigrants. And now what you're saying is that you're okay with funding TSA, which has been, I think, the biggest point of leverage that you possibly had in order to get what you want on ICE because ICE already has its money. So what was the point of the shutdown if you're okay with funding TSA?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we never approach these things that are in front of us with respect to government funding in the context of leverage. Our approach is: what is the appropriate use of taxpayer dollars? And we believe that taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for the American people, not brutalize or kill them or violently target law-abiding immigrant families, which is what we know ICE agents have been doing. And so at this point in time, more than 30 days into the Trump-Republican Department of Homeland Security shutdown, I think the most appropriate course of action is to fund TSA, fund FEMA, fund the Coast Guard, fund our cybersecurity professionals so that, you know, Republicans stop holding the American people hostage and these hardworking civil servants because of the Republican unwillingness, at least to date, to get ICE under control. Listen, we believe that immigration enforcement in this country should be fair, just and humane. And Donald Trump promised that he was going to go after the worst of the worst, violent felons who are here illegally. That's not what has been happening. They're targeting American citizens and law-abiding immigrant families, and of course that needs to end. That is not an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars.

DANA BASH: I'm just trying to understand how, if you fund TSA and the other agencies that you just talked about, how you think that you will be able to put pressure then on the administration to make the changes to ICE that you're asking for?

LEADER JEFFRIES: The American people are going to continue to put pressure on the administration because they know ICE is out of control, they need to be reined in, and our view is that they should not get another dime of taxpayer dollars until we have bold and dramatic and meaningful changes to ICE's behavior so that they are compelled to behave like every other law enforcement agency in the country. That includes making sure that there are judicial warrants that are required before ICE agents can rip the American people out of their homes in the middle of the night. We need to protect sensitive locations like houses of worship and hospitals and schools and polling sites. We need independent investigations so that, if ICE agents break the law, they can be investigated and criminally prosecuted by state and local authorities. We need to make sure that they are trained properly, that there are excessive use of force policies that are put into place, that we have independent access to detention centers. These are all common sense, reasonable things that the American people are appropriately demanding, and we're not going to back away from them.

DANA BASH: Meanwhile, with regard to the war in Iran, the Pentagon is talking about asking the White House to approve a request to ask Congress for over $200 billion to fund the Iran war. Now, this is two sources familiar with the matter that tell CNN this. Is there any world in which you would support any more money for the Pentagon for this war?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Listen, the Department of Defense, Donald Trump and Republicans haven't even made the case for why we are in this reckless war of choice right now to the American people. They've got no vision, no plan, no exit strategy. They clearly didn't anticipate some of the things that have happened, including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. What you're seeing right now aregas prices are through the roof, and that's adding to an environment in America right now where life has already become too expensive for the American people because of failed policies by Donald Trump, including, but not limited to, the Trump tariffs which have increased costs on everyday Americans by thousands of dollars per year. We should not be spending billions of dollars per day at this point in time to drop bombs in the Middle East when Republicans are unwilling to spend a dime to actually extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits and make sure that Americans can go see a doctor when they need one. It's a priority issue here.

DANA BASH: Is this something that if it comes up before the House, you will whip? Meaning, will you urge your fellow Democrats to vote no on any funding, or will you allow them to vote their conscience?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we'll have that leadership conversation when we actually have a piece of legislation that is in front of us, but I can tell you there is strong opposition right now to the notion that this war of choice that is reckless, that's costing the American people now more than $30 billion, should continue. We need to move, which we plan on doing in short order, a War Powers resolution so we can bring this situation to a close.

DANA BASH: I want to ask you before I let you go about something the President just put on Truth Social this morning. He said, 'Now with the death of Iran, the greatest enemy America has is the Radical Left, Highly Incompetent, Democratic Party.' Your response?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Donald Trump should keep his reckless mouth shut before he gets somebody killed.

DANA BASH: Hakeem Jeffries, thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it.

Full interview can be watched here.

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