Jeffries: Democrats ‘effectively’ in majority due to GOP ‘chaos, dysfunction’

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.) said that with the “chaos” and “dysfunction” in the House, the GOP “effectively” gave Democrats the majority, lending credence to far-right criticism of the House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) as the GOP majority slims down.

Jeffries said Sunday in an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes” with Norah O’Donnell that Democrats have direct influence over the House because of how fractured the GOP majority is.

“Even though we are in the minority, we have effectively governed as if we were in the majority because we continue to provide the majority of votes needed to get things done,” Jeffries said. “Those are just the facts.”

“It’s a difficult situation on the other side of the aisle because many of my Republican colleagues are more interested in creating chaos, dysfunction and extremism,” he continued.

The Republican majority in the House is just five seats, with everyone present, meaning Johnson has no room for error on controversial bills to ensure passage without working with Democrats.

Johnson also faces an impeachment threat from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who has criticized the House speaker for working with Democrats and creating a “uniparty.” Jeffries and Democrats have said they will protect Johnson against Greene’s motion to vacate the position.

He said Johnson didn’t ask him for help, but that supporting the Speaker of the House is what needs to be done.

“Our view would traditionally be, ‘Let the other side sort out its own mess,’” he said. “But when this confusion begins to impact the ability to do work on behalf of the American people, then the responsibility at that time may be to make it clear that we will not allow extremists to throw Congress and the country into a difficult situation. chaos.”

Greene is expected to introduce her motion to vacate the privilege this week, potentially setting up a vote. Two other Republican lawmakers supported his effort.

Jeffries has already used Democrats’ influence to pass some bipartisan priorities in the House. Congress approved a $95 billion foreign aid package last week after weeks of negotiations with hard-line Republicans who resisted the effort.

Unable to reach an agreement with his own party, Johnson voted with Democrats to move the project forward. Greene cited that vote in her decision to go after the House speaker.

“I voted for Mike Johnson because his voting record before he became speaker of the House was conservative… but after he became speaker of the House, he became a man none of us recognize,” she said last week. “We won’t have a majority in the House if we keep Mike Johnson.”