Hakeem Jeffries

And on top of all of that, they are demolishing the east wing of the White House in ways that have appropriately horrified

the American people.

I want to ask you about potential off-ramps.

And Tammy Baldwin, the senator from Wisconsin, Democrat, said Trump is the off-ramp at this point.

Do you agree with that assessment?

And has there been any kind of outreach or dialogue between you and the White House?

Leader Schumer made clear earlier this week that we have reached out to the White House again to indicate that prior to Trump's departure for Asia, he should sit down with Democrats to find a path forward to reopen the government, to enter into a bipartisan spending agreement.

and to address the health care crisis that Marjorie Taylor Greene acknowledges must be addressed, and that traditional conservatives who are in the toughest seats in the country have now publicly acknowledged this week needs to be addressed.

Can I ask you a question of congressional mechanics, and that is, can the Democratic leader pick up the phone, call the White House, and reasonably expect the president's going to take that phone call?

Are you able to do that?

And if so, what's keeping you from having that dial?

Well, traditionally, that probably is the case, but in this White House, that's very much unclear.

Donald Trump didn't have a meeting with House or Senate Democratic leadership until two days prior to the government shutting down.

And we had to demand that meeting.

He initially agreed to it, then he canceled it, and then he was forced by public sentiment to agree to it.

But unfortunately, we had a discussion for about an hour or so, and then there was no follow-up

from either Donald Trump or his administration because they are not serious about solving these challenges on behalf of the American people.

We live in a high cost of living environment.

The American people are struggling to afford to live, struggling paycheck to paycheck.

And Donald Trump and Republicans promised that they were going to lower costs on day one, but costs aren't going down.