Jeffries promises a more affordable life if Democrats win Congress: “We can do nothing while Trump pretends everything is fine”

The Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, promises voters that his party will make life more affordable — if in the midterm elections they take away the Republicans’ control of Congress, USA Today writes. While the Democrats are expected to win the House in November, Donald Trump will be president for two more years, so the Democrats’ ability to push their agenda forward may depend on Jeffries’ ability to make deals with the Republican president.

The equation is complicated: the Democrats promise to investigate — and possibly to bring impeachment proceedings against — Trump and members of his administration, while Trump insists he deserves an “A+” grade for his handling of the economy. “As long as the president and the people around him keep pretending as if everything is fine, it will be very difficult to reach the point where we can really do something decisive in all these areas”, Jeffries told USA Today.

Jeffries is expected to come under pressure from the progressives in his caucus to push party bills such as Medicare for All — legislation he personally does not support and which the White House has called socialism and a burden on the federal deficit. Trump has said that if the Democrats win, he will act mainly as a “blocker”, but he has also suggested openings for deals: “They will want some things. You make deals”, he told Fox News host Laura Ingraham last month.

The Democrats’ main priorities according to the interview: passing resolutions to end Trump’s war with Iran and to halt his tariffs. Jeffries is working with five caucus working groups on affordability — housing, healthcare, food and groceries, gas and utilities, caregiving — for recommendations for the first 100 days and the first year of a Democratic majority. On Trump’s pre-election payments strategy, Jeffries said: “Nobody is buying Donald Trump’s promise to hand out taxpayer money to ordinary Americans”, arguing that Trump has made similar promises repeatedly without keeping them. His prediction for the final weeks of the campaign: the Republicans “will become more and more desperate. But the American people have clearly reached the conclusion that enough is enough.”