legislative agenda and priorities going into 2024. he talks about government fund, gun violence prevention and former speaker kevin mccarthy who is retiring at the end of the year. this is the last weekly briefing from leader jeffries before the holiday break. mr. jeffries: the important work the fourth estate does to communicate to the american people what's happening on capitol hill and keeping them informed in the best way possible. throughout this year, house democrats have repeatedly made clear that we are ready, willing and able to find common ground in a bipartisan way with our republican colleagues on any issue in order to make life better for the american people. that's exactly what we have done. anything productive that's happened in this congress which is not much, because of the extreme maga republicans, has occurred because house democrats have led the way. in may, we avoided a catastrophic default on our nation's debt that would have crashed the economy and triggered a job-killing recession because house democrats provided a majority of the votes necessary to pass the bipartisan fiscal responsibility act. in september, it was house democrats who prevented a dangerous government shutdown that would have hurt the american people, and ensured that there would be $16 billion in funding for disaster assistance, when house democrats provided a majority of the votes. to get the continuing resolution over the finish line. in mid november, it was house democrats once again to the rescue who provided a majority of the votes necessary in order to ensure that the farm bill didn't lapse and that we avoided a government shutdown that would have hurt hardworking american taxpayers when house democrats provided a majority of the votes necessary to pass the continuing resolution. and once again, on the final day of this do-nothing republican congress, thankfully, house democrats provided a majority of the votes necessary to get the national defense authorization act over the finish line. why would so many house republicans, who are nominally in the majority, vote against the national defense authorization act? the answer is pretty startling. the national defense authorization act is important to make sure that we are protecting the national security and the safety of the american people. ensuring our military readiness in a very dangerous world. and providing a 5%, well-deserved, well-earned pay raise for our military service men and women. why would so many house republicans ooppose the national defense authorization act when they are in the majority, no, nominally, for the moment? it is because we were able to successfully remove efforts by extreme maga republicans to further criminalize abortion care and stop military servicewomen from receiving the support necessary to seek reproductive health care in other states. when they are stationed in places like texas. on this week of all weeks, when we've seen the cruelty of right-wing extremists unfold in terms of reproductive freedom in texas before the entire world. clearly necessitating the need to ensure that military women who have no choice other than to serve when asigned to places like texas have the opportunity when necessary to make their own reproductive health care decisions and travel to other states. on this week of all weeks, yet so many house republicans oppose the national defense authorization act and a pay raise for our military because they were unsuccessful in marching america toward a nationwide abortion ban and wanted to start with military variouswomen and military families. it's shameful. but that's the reality we confront. we're going to continue to point out the contracts between house democrats, team reasonable, team normal, team get stuff done. and team extreme. questions? reporter: obviously house republicans are going to move forward with holding -- trying to hold hunter biden in contempt. house democrats, not too long ago, held dan scavino and others in contempt, don't you think it should apply to hunter biden? mr. jeffries: what should apply to extreme maga republican's shrinking and fading majority is the standard set by house democrats, led by speaker pelosi, in partnership with senate democrats and president biden in the last congress which is to actually deliver for the american people. in the last congress, one of the most productive in american history, we were able to rescue the economy from the covid-19 pandemic, we were able to put shots in arm, money in pockets, kids back in school. we were able to pass the infrastructure investment and jobs act to create millions of good-paying jobs. and we see infrastructure projects under way all across america. we were able to pass the bipartisan safer communities act. in order to act. unsafety legislation for the first time that will save lives, we need to do more. we were able to stand up for our veterans who were suffering exposure to toxic substances, burn pits, agent orange, to get them health care they need. we were able to pass the chips and science act to bring domestic manufacturing jobs back to the united states of america. and we were able to pass the inflation reduction act to strike a dramatic blow against the climate crisis and lower prescription drug prices including dropping the price of insulin to $35. that's the standard. that house democrats in partnership with president biden and senate democrats set in the last congress. this do-nothing republican congress right now is the least productive in modern american history. they are focused on investigating the president, itch peaching -- impeaching joe biden at the direction of the puppet mast for the chief, donald trump. censuring democrats over and over and over again. bringing nonbinding resolutions to the floor. because they have no affirmative legislative agenda. perhaps that's a good thing because if they actually were effective in accomplishing their objectives, they would slash social security, cut medicare, end democracy as we know it, and continue to march us toward a nationwide abortion ban. democrats are standing in the way. reporter: can you talk about -- reporter: just really quickly, you didn't answer the question. some people would say it's a double standard. if this hits the house floor are you voting no on to t-frp contempt? mr. jeffries: that would be correct. the so-called investigation under way by house republicans is a joke. it's embarrassing. there is no evidence that president biden broke the law. this is an impeachment inquiry of the president. you can't impeach the president's son. there is no evidence that president joe biden broke the law. there's no evidence that president joe biden committed an impeachable offense. there's no evidence that president biden engaged in wrongdoing. this has been an ongoing investigation, understand, from the very begin, on january 3, when they couldn't get their act together, 15 different dysfunctional votes before they caved to the extremists. from the very beginning of this congress, they've been after president joe biden. and they want to try to get to him in any way possible including targeting president biden's family. no evidence in january. no evidence in february. no evidence in march. no evidence in april. no evidence in may. no evidence in june. no evidence in july. in evidence in august. no evidence in september. no evidence in october. no evidence in november. no evidence in december. and they're still at it. this is an epic fail. don't ask me, ask chuck grassley. reporter: can you talk about what your sense is of the ongoing conversations about immigration, end of year supplemental -- i mean, based on what we're hearing, things like parole and changes to asylum are very much on the table is that in line with where your caucus is? mr. jeffries: we have to get the national security supplemental funding request over the fin inline. it's irresponsible that extreme maga republicans who are bending the knee to the pro-putin caucus that's growing in intensity amongst republicans in the house and in the senate, have irresponsibly injected other items, albeit we understand the need to address the situation at the border, but nonetheless have injected other items into this discussion. complicating our ability to provide for america's national security. that said, this is an irresponsible group of people and we dealt with this throughout the entirety of this do-nothing republican congress. and so the ongoing discussions. arguing that the house is at whatever agreement is arrived at tentatively, when it's time for us to evaluate it, it has to be consistent with two principles. one, america is a nation of immigrants, that gives us a competitive advantage other china and everyone else. and two, we are a nation anchored in the rule of law. if whatever comes over from the senate is anchored in those two principles, or is at least not inconsistent with those two principles, then i think we'll be able to evaluate it in good faith and every individual member would have to make decisions. we'll go over to this side. reporter: i'm wondering about the future of ukraine funding. beyond this bill, into 2024. a growing number of republicans have expressed doubt over funding for ukraine. what do you see as the long-term future for congress. mr. jeffries: this is what confuses me. when i was growing up i was told republicans were the party of national security. that was the case under reagan and george h.w. bush. it clearly is no longer the case as is evidenced by the fact that so many republicans today voted against pay raises for our military and the national defense authorization act. the fact that republicans have been taken over by the extremists and the traditional national security republicans are on the run is evidenced by the republican resistance to supporting the war effort in ukraine. it doesn't take a rocket scientist if you are serving in congress, immersed in these national security issues, to understand that if we allow vladimir putin to run through ukraine, that his next target will be a nato country, which means that american military men and women will be in the fight. not just our resources. american military men and women risking their lives, consistent with our nato obligations. my republican colleagues have suggested that they don't have any clarity on the plan moving forward or the successes of ukraine. the ukrainian women and men have been incredibly courageous, incredibly brave, incredibly effective in pushing back against the russian military and vladimir putin's aggression. heading into this conflict, all of the prognosticateors, including very sophisticated ones, were telling the world in february of 2022, that russia's military is going to wipe out ukraine and be in kyiv in about a week. we are now approximately 22 months into this conflict and here's what we know about ukraine's success. ukraine has captured 50% of the territory once held by russia. it's now been recaptured by ukraine. they have pushed back the russian military. which, by the way, heading into this conflict, was the fiercest, we believe, military in europe. stronger than germany. stronger than great britain. stronger than france. the bravery of the ukrainian military with support from the united states against great odds has resulted in more than 300,000 casualties being inflicted on the russian military. 300,000. in less than two years. more than half the russian military has been wiped out. that's in america's national security interest because we're a democracy. we push back against awe fortarian dictators who threaten peace and stability in the world. and so it's just not clear to any of us who understand these dynamics how our republican colleagues can push back against wanting to fund the ukrainian war effort in america's national security interest. the reason they are doing so, in my humble opinion, is that there is a pro-putin caucus. that has increasingly taken over the republican party. here in the congress, the pro-putin caucus is led by jim jordan and outside of it, the caucus is led by donald trump and tucker carlsson. they're undermining america's national security in order to elevate vladimir putin. that's shameful. reporter: thank you, mr. leader. when you come back from the holiday there are appropriation deadlines coming down the pike and there are concerns about a full c.r. and a deadline. i'm curious if you'll tell the american people why a full c.r. or obviously a government shutdown is not ideal, i'd appreciate it. mr. jeffries: our view is we have top line spending numbers sufficient to begin the appropriations process that are connected with the bipartisan fiscal responsibility act and the global agreement that was reached in may of 2023. the top line spending number is not a mystery to anyone, it is 1659. that is the number that is necessary for us to proceed in a manner consistent with meeting the needs of the american people in terms of their health, safety, and economic well-being. the problem is that while house democrats agree with senate democrats on that number and house and senate democrats agree with senate republicans on that number, and all of us agree with the biden administration on that number, the extreme maga republicans remain on an island trying to break the agreement that they themselves negotiated. it's a nonstarter. it's not happening. and if extreme maga republicans continue to refuse to keep the agreement related to the bipartisan fiscal responsibility act, they are marching america to a government shutdown. reporter: yesterday there were a number of members of the hispanic caucus who lined up in opposition essentially to a border deal. have you spoken at all with the leaders of the hispanic caucus? mr. jeffries: i speak to a variety of members including leaders of the hispanic caucus regularly but not in a position to comment on any potential agreement in the absence of being able to actually review the substance of what a border proposal looks like in the senate. reporter: this week the wizards in capitals look to find a new home in virginia. some republicans are saying crime is a key factor in this decision. you think the american people are weary on the democrats when it comes to the issue of crime? mr. jeffries: i'm a long suffering jets fan so i've not been able to follow the negotiation and comings of the wizards and the capitals. however, i think that public safety post pandemic is moving in the right direction. certainly in the city of new york we've seen that homicides are down and shootings are down. that is a good thing. and new york has been restored as the safest big city in the world. i think you would have to talk to the owner of the capitals and wizards to figure out the reason for their move but it's very likely it has nothing to do with public safety concerns and everything to do with economics. reporter: if i could just move to new york, new york g.o.p. nassau announced flotilla as a member against swazi, can you tell us how they'll address this and work for the campaign? mr. jeffries: under the capitol dome i can't comment. but tom swazi will be able to articulate a way forward in terms of putting people over politics and serving the people of nassau county and queens but the swazi campaign and candidate will have to prosecute this case and i suppose he'll do it projecting partisanship as a problem that's poisoned the do-nothing republican congress and offering a different way to solve problems on behalf of the people he hopes to represent. thanks. reporter: leader jeffries, you and your democratic colleagues were out on the capital steps earlier today looking back at sandy hook 11 years ago and talked about the need for gun violence legislation to come through, yet it's another year that goes by that not much has been done on that front, concerning the fact there are other items you and your democratic colleagues have brought up as a major concern. talk to me about the frustration of not getting the gun prevention legislation through and some of the other major ticket items you wanted to get through but weren't able to before the end of the year because of the republicans in congress? mr. jeffries: the do nothing republican congress has focused on the wrong priorities from the very beginning and that's unfortunate because house democrats have made clear that we are ready and willing and able at any point at any time to work on bipartisan solutions for the american people with respect to gun safety or any other issue. instead, we've seen repeated efforts by maga extremists to jam their right-wing ideology down the throats of the american people in a manner that's inconsistent with meeting the needs of hard-working american taxpayers. the failure to act in any way to address the gun violence epidemic when there are more than 600 mass shootings in the country this year more than 40,000 americans have lost their lives and gun violence is the leading cause of death for the children in america. that should shock the conscience of everyone and demand action with the fiercest urgency of now. but maga extremists are driven by their ideology it appears as opposed to doing the right thing for the american people. house democrats will continue to push hard using every vehicle available to us to solve the gun violence epidemic and address other issues of concern. reporter: you think at this point it will only change when democrats control the house? mr. jeffries: that's a decision the american people will have to make if we find ourselves in that situation in november. reporter: a question, one, on the appropriations, is it fair to say you're not close yet to that top line number, especially since it seems like, as you said, house dems, senate republicans, what more can you do to get johnson to agree to the number? mr. jeffries: either we're going to agree to keep the agreement that's been reached in terms of the bipartisan fiscal responsibility act with the top line spending number at 6959 or the extreme maga republicans in the house will shut down the government which will hurt the american people. reporter: if i could also ask, today is kevin mccarthy's last day with a speech on the floor about an hour ago, you all worked together and got along best you could, do you have parting last words for him, have you been able to speak? mr. jeffries: we have been in communication but i will say that we had a very positive working relationship. it was candid. we agreed to disagree without being disagreeable and wish him nothing but the best. last question. reporter: leader, with a recent uptick in antisemitism, places of worship have been attacked and things like that, the u.s. conference of catholic bishops is asking for $200 million to improve security for the places of worship, catholic churches, can i get the house democrats position on that? mr. jeffries: president biden set forth over a hundred different steps that can be taken both in terms of appropriations as well as legislative action to deal with the deeply disturbing rise in antisemitism and other forms of hatred in the united states of america. one of the things we need to do is provide additional security grants to make sure that synagogues and churches and mosques and other places and houses of worship can secure themselves in this climate of increasing hatred and is something that i believe house democrats are prepared to support when we see an actual legislative proposal. reporter: do you think you'll see it the beginning of next year? mr. jeffries: we'll certainly work to make sure we can provide the additional resources necessary to ensure that every single american feels safe in a synagogue, in a school, in a temple, or in a house of worship. thank you, everyone. happy holidays. reporter: thank you, leader. reporter: happy holidays. 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