With the government still shut down after Democrats filibustered a clean continuing resolution, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has been doing his level best to somehow deflect blame. Regarding how effective he's been, let's just say they don't call him "TEMU Obama" for nothing.
In a must-see confrontation on Wednesday, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) approached Jeffries to question why he and his party are refusing to sign onto a one-year extension of COVID-era Obamacare subsidies. For reference, the lapsing of those subsidies has been used by Democrats to justify their shutdown. The minority leader was not prepared for the pushback he got, and his lack of political chops was on full display.
ALSO SEE: Democrats Walk Right Into the Shutdown Trap, Immediately Crash and Burn
🚨WATCH: Sparks fly as Rep. Mike Lawler confronts Hakeem Jeffries on why Democrats won’t help reopen the government pic.twitter.com/7M9YonJHoD
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 8, 2025
LAWLER: We've got a one-year extension. Why don't we sign on right now? Why don't we sign on right now?
JEFFRIES: Let me ask you a question (crosstalk). Did you get permission from your boss? Did your boss Donald Trump...
LAWLER: Why don't we sign on right now? You can easily extend the ACA right now.
JEFFRIES: Did your boss, Donald Trump, give you permission?
LAWLER: He's not my boss.
JEFFRIES: Yes, he is.
LAWLER: No, he's not, and by the way, why did you vote to shut the government down?
JEFFRIES: Let me ask you a question. Let me ask you a question.
LAWLER: Why did you vote to shut it down? For years, you always lectured about how we need to keep the government open.
JEFFRIES: You're making a show of this...
(Lots of crosstalk)
JEFFRIES: You're embarrassing yourself right now. You're an embarrassment.
I'm not going to transcribe every word of their back-and-forth because there's so much crosstalk that it's not practical, but they go back and forth for another few seconds, all the while Jeffries sounds like a middle-school bully getting his lunch money stolen. The question wasn't hard. Why is he not signing onto the extension? If these subsidies are the hold-up for reopening the government, then extend them. It's not complicated.
Well, it's not complicated unless you're a Democrat who is hiding the main reason they shut the government down. It's not really about these subsidies (which should not be extended even for a year, in my opinion). It's about ensuring federal money continues to flow to illegal immigrants to pay for their healthcare. The claim that funding is only to cover mandated emergency room visits is technically true but wholly misleading.
When emergency rooms are being used like urgent care clinics by illegal immigrants for every sniffle and headache, we've moved well past the meaning of the word "emergency." It's an abuse of the system that shovels taxpayer cash into the pockets of a group that Democrats see as part of their base.
As the exchange continued, Jeffries tried to change the subject to the "One, Big, Ugly Bill," a derogatory reference to the Trump-backed reconciliation package that passed earlier in 2025. Lawler was ready, though, and immediately regained the upper hand, leaving Jeffries repeatedly stammering.
Hakeem Jeffries starts malfunctioning when Mike Lawler calmly explains to him that all of his talking points about the One Big Beautiful Bill are wrong. pic.twitter.com/A7YeDxOay9
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 8, 2025
JEFFRIES: Let me ask you a question. You voted for the One, Big Ugly Bill.
LAWLER: I voted for a bill that gave the largest tax cut to Americans in history (crosstalk), including, by the way, the average New Yorker getting a $4,000 tax cut. Are you against that?
JEFFRIES: You're embarrassing yourself right now.
LAWLER: Do you want to cut the standard deduction in half? Is that what you want to do?
JEFFRIES: The largest cut to Medicaid in American history. You voted for that.
LAWLER: No, we voted out waste, fraud, and abuse, by the way, (crosstalk) pointed out that $1.2 billion was wasted on fraud.
This is where things really went off the rails for Jeffries, who let his emotions take over. Throughout the clip, he keeps accusing Lawler of "embarrassing yourself," but anyone watching this can see it's the minority leader who looks out of his league.
JEFFRIES: Listen, you're not going to talk to me (cross-talk), you're not gonna talk to me and talk over me because you don't want to hear what I have to say
LAWLER: Oh, I'm listening.
JEFFRIES: So why don't you just keep your mouth shut because you showed up (crosstalk) and so, you voted for this One, Big Ugly Bill...
LAWLER: I signed on for this. You can extend it right now.
JEFFRIES: A permanent extension of massive tax breaks for your billionaire donors.
LAWLER: 90 percent of Americans...
JEFFRIES: So they can get a permanent extension, but working-class Americans can't?
LAWLER: 90 percent of Americans take the standard deduction.
JEFFRIES: Is that right?
LAWLER: If you had your way, the standard deduction would have been cut in half. There would have been a massive tax increase on Americans all across the country. You support that?
JEFFRIES: You're here, unfortunately, to do the bidding of your billionaire donors.
LAWLER: The billionaire donors? Lifting the cap on SALT, we put an income cap in place.
JEFFRIES: Why are you here right now? Where are the rest of your Republican colleagues (crosstalk).
LAWLER: You wanted Republicans to be here. I'm here.
Jeffries was so far in over his head that he wasn't even able to deliver his talking points effectively, instead falling into just mumbling about "billionaire donors" for the umpteenth time. This is not the guy who is going to lead Democrats out of the desert and into the promised land. He's a lightweight in every aspect as a political figure, only elevated to his position because he checked the right identity boxes.
I'll end with this clip of Lawler challenging Jeffries on when he's going to endorse self-avowed communist and New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani.
🚨 GOP @RepMikeLawler CONFRONTS Hakeem Jeffries
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 8, 2025
LAWLER: "You're so afraid of Zohran Mamdani! By the way, when are you endorsing him?"
JEFFRIES: "You're a complete and total embarrassment." https://t.co/qG31w7rg3T pic.twitter.com/q64UvaziRu
Someone is a complete and total embarrassment in this case, but it's not Lawler. I'll leave it at that.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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