Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats won't pay a 'ransom note' to GOP over debt ceiling
New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the new leader of House Democrats, insists the looming national debt crisis will be resolved without his party submitting to demands by Republicans who want to negotiate spending cuts in exchange for their support in raising the debt ceiling.
“There is a difference between a compromise and a ransom note. And so let me be clear. We are not going to pay a ransom note to extremists in the other party,” Jeffries said this week in an interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep.
When asked whether Democrats would stick to their position even if it meant risking a default, Jeffries emphatically rejected that scenario saying, “We’re not going to let the car go off the cliff even though there are people who are willing to do it.”