Hakeem Jeffries

What's your best guess at this point?

Well, listen, I think the longer this goes on, the more pressure that unfortunately continues to mount on Congress decisively to act, meaning our Republican colleagues who control the House and the Senate.

And it

shocks a lot of people that house republicans have been on vacation now four consecutive weeks have literally canceled votes for four consecutive weeks that's an unsustainable position we believe they need to get back to work come back from vacation sit down let's do the business of the american people we also of course are going to approach the november 1st open enrollment period and at that moment in time it will be crystal clear

to the american people that their premiums co-pays and deductibles are about to skyrocket in ways that will crush them financially and they will be unable to go see a doctor when they need one when their children need one when their family needs one and it's unsustainable for republicans to continue to refuse to address that issue it's not a made-up issue

It's a real-life issue that has adverse consequences on everyday Americans.

I think back to the beginning of this and the days before, there were some critics who said, that date's too far off and you're making this argument based on that November 1st deadline.

People aren't dealing with that in real terms yet.

Does this become an easier sell

to the American public as we get closer to that date and indeed as we hit November 1st?

Well, our view was that we needed to address this issue in October because of the fact that notices were going out to tens of millions of Americans.

who have to be able to plan.

They need some certainty to understand, are they gonna be able to afford healthcare?

How am I gonna manage this situation?

What are my alternatives?

And that's why we felt like it needed to be dealt with, with the fierce urgency of now, in connection to what was also happening with the need to either fund the government, prevent a shutdown that Republicans have now brought to the country, now reopen the government, and actually to reach and enlighten

bipartisan spending agreement where our only criteria had been if we're going to reach an agreement that's bipartisan in nature, it has to actually improve the lives of the American people in three different areas.

Their health, public safety, and

their economic well-being, particularly as it relates to lowering the high cost of living because America's too expensive right now.

A nearer pressure point is Friday, October the 24th.