Chairman Aguilar: Republicans in Washington continue to fail the American people.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu held a press conference calling out Trump and Republicans for ignoring the needs of hardworking Americans who are struggling to survive in this economy. You can watch the full press conference here and read the transcript below.
CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning. So thankful to be joined by Vice Chair Ted Lieu as always. As we reconvene this week, one thing remains incredibly clear to us: Republicans in Washington continue to fail the American people. Their conference remains deeply divided. I think they just finished meeting for almost two hours. The war in Iran continues to drive up prices at home. Trump is undermining our elections. ICE is out of control. And Republicans have not put forward a single bill to make life more affordable. Unfortunately, this level of chaos and dysfunction has become a hallmark of Republican leadership. Their only significant bill, the Big Ugly Law, was also their cruelest. And one year later, Americans across the country are experiencing the consequences. Hardworking people are finding it more difficult to find a doctor when they're sick. They're finding it more difficult to put food on the table. And they're finding it more difficult to survive in this economy.
Republicans moved heaven and earth to give billionaires a tax break, but when it came to lowering grocery bills, Republicans cannot be found. This is a pattern. Republican leadership consistently prioritizes the elites over the working-class communities we were elected to serve. Remember, Republicans sent us home from Congress just a couple of weeks ago, rather than deal with lowering costs, which is a singular issue that people want us to focus on. They haven't just failed their constituents; they are actively making it harder and more expensive for people. And now, 18 months into the majority, Republicans aren't listening to Americans. What Democrats want to do is tackle the cost-of-living crisis that Republicans have created. Republicans now continue to look at voter suppression efforts as well as ways to give Trump $350 billion for his Middle East war. Democrats won't stand for it. And when we take the House back, we're going to make life more affordable for people. It is our singular priority. Vice Chair Ted Lieu.
VICE CHAIR LIEU: Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. The inflation numbers for last month came out today. It shows that inflation increased 3.5 percent year over year. That is lower than it was two months ago, but still an increase and well above the Federal Reserve's preferred target of 2 percent. That means grocery prices remain elevated. Gas prices remain elevated. Utility costs remain elevated. And what are Trump and Republicans focused on? Putting giant banners of Trump's face all over Washington, D.C., putting Donald Trump's name on airports, putting Trump's signature and face on currency and coins. We asked Trump and Republicans to focus on what the American people want, and not on Trump's own narcissism.
We just saw two additional shootings by ICE agents. One reason this is happening is because Republicans gave ICE a big blank check with no guardrails. We had a shooting in Houston, a shooting in Maine. And based on the publicly available accounts, it appears that ICE agents went after the wrong people. That's not surprising because we saw ICE agents kill two U.S. citizens earlier, and ICE agents are not trained the way police officers are trained. ICE agents are not real police officers. They get significantly less training. They do not wear body cameras. They wear masks, and they are an out of control rogue agency. And what happened in Houston is particularly egregious because the Department of Homeland Security will not even provide the names and witnesses of the ICE agents at that shooting to the criminal investigation that the Harris County District Attorney opened. You basically now have the federal government obstructing a state criminal investigation. What is the Department of Homeland Security hiding from the American people and hiding from this investigation? We call on them to disclose the witnesses and the ICE agents who were present, so that the Harris County DA can do a full and fair investigation.
And then let me now conclude on a recent federal court case where a federal judge said that the Trump administration basically sued itself and engaged in collusion, and that this whole scheme was concocted by Department of Justice attorneys. The judge voided the $1.8 billion January 6th slush fund and referred their attorneys to disciplinary proceedings with the state bars. We now have a Department of Justice that is no longer interested in justice. They've now become a full campaign arm of the Trump administration. November is coming.
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