House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) blasted House Republicans on Sunday for being “wholly owned subsidiaries of Donald Trump.”
Jeffries discussed the bipartisan Senate negotiations that have been underway since late last year in the hopes of reaching an agreement on border security on ABC’s “This Week.” He told co-host George Stephanopoulos that a potential proposal by the Senate should not be “dead on arrival” in the House before lawmakers even review the text, which has not been released yet.
“How can a bill be dead on arrival and extreme MAGA Republicans in the House haven’t even seen the text? They don’t even know what solutions are being proposed in terms of addressing the challenges at the border,” Jeffries said.
“House Republicans at this point are wholly owned subsidiaries of Donald Trump. They’re not working to find real solutions for the American people. They are following orders from the former president,” he said.
Former President Trump has been railing against bipartisan negotiations on the border for weeks, saying that additional legislation on the border is unnecessary. However, many Republican lawmakers have emphasized that Trump has no role in border negotiations.
Trump has also been accused of wanting to sink the border negotiations to help boost his chances in the 2024 election. He has since denied that claim, saying that he would not be opposed to a “great” bill that would solve the “problem.”
Jeffries was likely referring to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who last month said any potential Senate deal on the border would be “dead on arrival” in the House.
Jeffries continued to take aim at House Republicans for following the former president’s direction in his interview on Sunday.
“That’s the height of irresponsibility. That’s what the American people dislike about Washington, D.C., at this moment,” Jeffries added.