House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries continues to embarrass himself in his efforts to convince Americans that Republicans are responsible for the government shutdown caused by him and his fellow Democrats.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, the Schumer Shutdown took effect at 12:01 am on October 1 after two measures to avert the government shutdown failed in the Senate.
The measures needed 60 votes to pass. The GOP-backed measure failed to pass in a 55-45 vote – Rand Paul voted with the Democrats.
The Democrat Party and Paul decided to put the welfare of illegal aliens, higher taxes by repealing Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill, surgeries for transgender minors, and more garbage ahead of keeping the government running.
Several more GOP votes have been held to reopen the government, but Democrats have remained firm in their obstinacy.
On Thursday, Squawk Box co-host Joe Kernan confronted Jeffries with a few brutal facts after the House Democratic leader recited his failed talking points. Kernan noted there was an election Republicans won, and because of that, they were to pass legislation such as Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
Kernan noted that trying to reverse such legislation in a government funding bill was extraordinarily hypocritical because if the GOP tried to shut down the government under legislation passed under the Biden regime, Jeffries would be screaming.
The CNBC co-host then said this was not how government works and that the bill currently on the table has bipartisan support in the Senate.
Jeffries had no answer for this and could only whine about Republicans not engaging in bipartisan negotiations and that they could reopen the government at any time.
Of course, he neglected to say that it takes 60 votes in the Senate to pass a bill, should one side decide to filibuster. This is what Democrats are doing right now.
Kernan’s fellow co-host, Becky Quick, also told Jeffries that he could engage in bipartisan negotiations after the government reopens, noting the number of Republicans anxious to make a deal on the Obamacare subsidies.
This was certainly not precisely the interview Jeffries expected.
WATCH:
BREAKING: Hakeem Jeffries was just EMBARRASSED for holding the government hostage…holy smokes. This was bad.
CNBC: “There was an ELECTION. Republicans were able to pass the Big Beautiful Bill. To then say, ‘We don’t like that, so we’re gonna shut down the government until… pic.twitter.com/wlcxytaZC6
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 9, 2025
KERNAN: There was an election, and the Republicans were put in a position where they were able to pass the Big Beautiful Bill.
To then say, ‘We don’t like that, so we’re gonna shut down the government until you take back all the things you duly passed through legislation…If the Republicans tried to do that to the Inflation Reduction Act, or any of the Biden acts, shut down the government because we don’t like it, not pay military, not allow the government to open until you do what we want, after an election when the American people put Democrats in power, you’d be going crazy.
You’d be going crazy about using a shutdown of the federal government on a continuing resolution to get what you want, cause you don’t like what Republicans did.
“It’s not how it works. It’s bad, it’s bad precedent…And you’re talking about the House? You’ve already passed this.
The Senate has a bill to reopen the government right now with five more Democrats.
JEFFRIES: What is bad precedent is the Republican refusal to engage in bipartisan negotiations. What is bad precendent is Republicnas embarking on a my way or the highway approach from the beginning of this Congress.
Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the Presidency…So if the government shuts down, they’ve made the government shutdown.
They could reopen it right now.
KERNAN: How could they do that?
JEFFRIES: I just explained it. They want to keep it closed.
Cruelty from the very beginning has been the point. The responsible thing to do is to sit down and negotiate a bipartisan path forward.
QUICK: Minority Leader, can you do that while the government is open? That’s the offer on the table.
House Speaker Mike Johnson passed a clean CR. There’s nothing to politick with because there’s nothing to take out.
You can reopen the government and have the conversations (on health care). It sounds like there is a willing party on the other side (Republicans) who see this as an issue in their district as well.
JEFFRIES: Marjorie Taylor Greene has made clear that this is an issue Republicans have ignored throughout this year, and it needs to be addressed right now.
Read the full article here