gift. we also included sanctions on russia and china and iran which i believe is the new actioncies of evil -- axis of evil. the reality here is if the house did not do this better policy and process, allowing for amendments on the floor in the process tomorrow, we would have had to eat the senate supplemental bill that. is because we were very close given the timeline in both israel and ukraine, to a discharge petition being brought. discharge petition in layman's terms is that when a number of members or majority of members get together, they can override the speaker and bring something straight from the floor. that would have happened imminently on the senate supplemental. by doing this, even though it's not the perfect legislation, not the legislation we would write if republicans were in charge. both the house, senate, and white house, this is the best possible product that we can get under these circumstances to take care of these really important obligations. we look forward to the vote

tomorrow. we look forward to every member voting their conscience and their desire that. is exactly how this process is supposed to work and how the house is supposed to operate. we are happy to provide that. vacate and oust mike johnson as house speaker. >> good afternoon. >> good afternoon, or months. the american people have had their national security interest placed on hold. recklessly. because of pro putin maga extremists like marjorie taylor greene.

leader jeffries: good afternoon. for months, the american people have had their national security interests placed on hold recklessly because of pro-putin maga extremists like marjorie taylor greene. it's long past time that we support our democratic allies in israel, ukraine and the indo-pacific and provide humanitarian assistance to civilians who are in harm's way in theaters of conflict like gaza, haiti and the sudan. house democrats have once again cleared the way for legislation that is important to the american people to be processed and considered on the house floor for an up or down vote. from the very beginning of this congress, we have made clear that we will put people over politics. it's not a slogan, it's a way of life. and we have demonstrated it repeatedly, and we will continue to do just that because we believe in achieving real results for the american people. questions?

reporter: can you talk to us a little bit about, a how your conversations with the speaker may have happened to get democrats to vote in a larger majority than republicans on this rule? and secondly, the idea because of that you could be losing that speaker from within his own conference? leader jeffries: what's important at the moment is making sure we finish the job, which is to make sure we take up the national security bills tomorrow and that robust majorities of democrats and republicans exist in order to meet the national security needs of the american people. democrats will provide a majority of our majority as it relates to funding israel, humanitarian assistance, ukraine, and our allies in the indo-pacific. it remains to be

seen what republicans will do in terms of meeting the national security needs of the american people, but it was important for house democrats to make sure the national security bills are going to be considered. i speak with mike johnson frequently. we have an open, honest, and communicative relationship. i did not talk to him this morning. we made a decision last evening that we will do what is necessary to provide the votes on the rules committee to ensure that the legislation could be heard on the house floor today. once we made that decision, it was clear that he would do what was necessary to make sure the national security legislation was considered by the entire house of representatives. reporter: thank you, mr. leader. i don't know if you're aware but

congressman paul gosar has come up in a motion to vacate joining congressman greene's motion to potentially oust the speaker. obviously, if all democrats were to join them, the speaker could potentially be out. i know when i asked you yesterday about the motion to vacate, you pointed back to your previous statements in february and at that time you told "the new york times" for speaker johnson to do the right thing relative to meeting the significant national security of the american people by putting it on the floor for an up or down vote, there will be a reasonable number of people in the house democratic caucus that will take the position he should not fall as a result. is that still your position? hakeem jeffries: that's a declaration, not an observation but that statement still stands. reporter: to be clear, you would save him? leader jeffries that's a : declaration of observation.

we'll have to have the conversation before the house caucus. first thing's first, we still have to get the national security -- reporter: i want to just clarify -- because of gamesmanship and partisanship on the others of the aisle. the extreme mag republican said we cannot meet the national security needs of the american people until we make changes to border policy. and then, the extreme mag republicans killed a border policy bipartisan piece of legislation. then we were told that the extreme mag or republicans could not address the national security needs of the american people until a spending bill was

completed. democrats provided the support necessary to make sure that we funded the government in the manner that was compassionate and comprehensive and met the needs of the american people. and then we went on to another excuse from the extreme mag republicans. third, we were told that the national security needs of the american people could not be met until we reauthorized the foreign intelligence surveillance act though we were promised, after finishing the spending bill, that the first order of priority upon our return to washington in april would be national security legislation. but we had to deal with the foreign intelligence surveillance act which democrats, once again, helped get over the finish line.

extreme abbott -- extreme mag republicans as we have observed are out of excuses and the american people and our allies in ukraine and around the world are out of time. in terms of our national security needs being met. hopefully, we are on track for that to happen tomorrow. we have been very honest in our assessment of the situation from the beginning including in the declaration i made in february and at the appropriate time as house democrats we will have a conversation about how to deal with any hypothetical -- at this point has not been noticed. moscow, marjorie taylor greene, massey and ghosts are are quite a group -- and gosar are quite a group and i'm sure it will play

some role in our conversation but central to the conversation, the prerequisite to the conversation is to make sure that the national security legislation in totality is passed by the house of representatives. reporter: i want to just clarify your answer to all these questions, did johnson specifically come to you and ask, say i'm going to need democratic votes and second, how much credit do you think he deserves doing the right thing eventually? leader jeffries: we can assess to how we got to where we are once the national security legislation is voted on and completed in terms of the process in the house of representatives. our teams and the whip teams on both sides of the aisle are in constant communication about the whip counts as it relates to both

procedural votes and substantive votes and that was no different as it relates to the national security organization. i did not -- national security legislation. i did not directly speak to mike johnson about the numbers necessary because it was pretty obvious to us that given the growing number of pro putin republicans in the g.o.p., particularly in the house of representatives, that this was going to require substantial democratic participation. and we had a choice, are we going to put people over politics, because the political thing to do is to always let the extreme maga republicans crash and burn because they have so many out-of-control members they cannot govern on their own. and

we could let them simply crash and burn. but when we say we're going to continue to put people over politics we actually mean it especially when it comes to meeting the needs of the american people both domestically and in terms of our national security. and we're going to continue to do just that. leader jeffries: thank you, mr. leader. can you just take one more swing at that? speaker johnson is of course a very new leader and we have all watched him come in and try to take hold of this conference. can you assess his role for us so far, and what do you mean for him and for the state of our politics here that he has made this choice to put his job on the

line and see what he can do with you and democrats to provide this package? leader jeffries: first i'd like to -- what the american people people have to learn what i think of my colleagues. i think what the american people care about right now is meeting their needs in a very dangerous world in terms of standing by our democratic allies in defense of freedom and liberty here at home and across the globe. that will be the ultimate test on which speaker johnson, myself, and all of our colleagues in the house on both sides of the aisle will be judged. and that's how we should be judged. if we deliver

to the american people. and the threshold, i think, in terms of the task we've confronted as democrats is that we are consistently delivering for the american people. let me reiterate, that in terms of speaker johnson, we have an open, honest, and highly communicative relationship. he has to manage the dynamics of a very unruly house republican conference filled with pro putin extremists who have zero interest in funding ukraine. let's see what happens on the floor tomorrow on the funding bill for ukraine is before the house of representatives. but it took bipartisan cooperation led by speaker johnson on the other

side of the aisle to get us to a point finally where america's national security interests can be considered. reporter: thank you. despite all these delays, there still was a very significant bipartisan vote for the rule at least. but you just mentioned you want to see what happens on ukraine. do you think there is still a significant bipartisan consensus when it comes to these national security issues or do you still have doubt about that on what you're saying about this ukraine vote? leader jeffries: i'm very confident that the overwhelming majority of house democrats will stand by our democratic allies in israel and ukraine and the indo-pacific , and -- -- and make sure that humanitarian assistance is secure in gaza as well as people

in conflict zones throughout the world including in haiti and those who dan where there is massive suffering. that is what i am confident about in terms of democrats continuing to step up and meet the national security needs of the american people, solve problems and deliver real results always exercising common sense and pushing back against maggot extremist chaos -- maga extremist chaos. it remains to be seen if the majority of republicans will do that and we will have the answer tomorrow. reporter: has the biden administration weighed in with you either way on what house democrats should do if and when that motion to vacate comes to the floor? leader jeffries: no. that's the easiest question of the day. [laughter]

reporter: they haven't tipped their hands either way and that decision is entirely up to you and your members? leader jeffries: that's correct. that also was the case in october of last year. reporter: you mentioned three parts of the plan, israel, taiwan, ukraine. what about the fourth part of that legislation, on tiktok, the repo act, do you expect your caucus to support that legislation? leader jeffries: i don't have a position on it one way or the other. i think we have to evaluate the totality of bills in that package and i suspect there will be a significant number of democrats who will support a fourth legislative item and a number of democrats who might oppose it. reporter: thank you, leader, jeffries. we'll give it one more try. this may not be the only time far right republicans try to oust speaker johnson. so if this happens over and over again, do you think democrats should over and over again step in to save johnson?

leader jeffries: from the very beginning of this congress, the democrats have made clear it was a mistake to hand over the keys to the house of representatives to maga extremists who were simply intent on visiting chaos and dysfunction on the american people. every single house democrat voted against the change for the motion to vacate. every single one of us in january of 2023. because we believed it was a mistake to take a loaded gun in the form of the motion to vacate and hand it over to any single individual in

the house republican conference. that was a mistake. and we voted against it because it is not consistent with common sense and good governance. but now we find ourselves in this situation. and so we'll have to evaluate what is the best path forward in terms of the motion to vacate as a rule. that's a conversation for another day after, after the national security legislation is over the finish line, moved to the senate, and sent to joe biden's desk for his signature. by the way, president joe biden throughout this process has done a tremendous job. reporter: so you think johnson should stay as speaker then? leader jeffries: i don't have a

view on that one way or the other. one step at a time in terms of what is in front of us because what is in front of us is not just a simple day-to-day run-of-the-mill issue. this is a this is bloomberg churchill or chamberlain moment. we can either confront aggression that is directed at marcus he and freedom in america or throughout the world, or we can impede. and there are several months that have gone by where pro maggot extremists have indicated they want to appease vladimir putin's aggression. this is a serious moment. the free world is at stake, it's at issue. it's in front of us. when democratic repeatedly say, let's deal with the substance

first before we address the process, questions, we actually mean it and we will see where we are. >> this morning the chair of the congressional house caucus and the furniture endorsed adam holly as primary opponent, will you endorse him? rep. jeffries: i haven't looked at the endorsement. i will get to it but the contract record has been clear and firms are standing by for the house and the senate. >> several of your members have said, in the event of the motion to vacate, they would like speaker johnson to enter into negotiations about formalizing the bipartisan negotiation that has been happening.

they want agreements on bipartisan legislation coming to the fore. is that something you would be open to discussion -- discussing with the speaker in order to save his job? rep. jeffries: the issue was published on friday, october 6. any thoughts that i had as it relates to a by pattison path forward are contained in that. >> given the fact that we are now in april of 2024 and we only have a few more months until the election, will you insist on changes to how congress functions in exchange for any democratic votes on the nation to vacate? rep. jeffries: the op-ed was published on friday, october 6, i commend you for your reading. in any thoughts i might have as

it relates to changes to the house. >> let's say that the bill did pass tomorrow, are there any opportunities for bipartisan labor inflation for the rest of this congress for the election? the farm bill is due, there's questions around artificial intelligence, do you think there's possibly that any other policies could be achieved during this congress? rep. jeffries: we have maintained from the very beginning that we will on any issues whenever possible, as long as it meets the criteria for making life better for the american people. we look forward to continuing to do just that and go back to the farm bill. aviation safety, and making sure we fully fund the affordability

program so that we can maintain internet access to communities all across the country, including in inner-city america, smalltime america, rural america. quex i wanted to follow up on what you said about the votes. you said you are comforted in overwhelming majority of democrats will support that. they have signed a letter saying they should suspend aid to israel. i'm curious on how you think democrats support this and what message should be sent on were support measures will stand with the democrats. >> thank you. >> c-span's washington journal,

a live forum involving you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics and public policy. from washington, d.c. to across the country. saturday morning we will talk with the deputy director of the american enterprise institute education policy study on how to combat chronic student absenteeism and school that began in the pandemic and continues today. c-span's washington journal, join and live at 7:00 eastern saturday morning on c-span, c-span now or online at c-span.org. >> the house returns tomorrow for a rare saturday session at 9:00 a.m. eastern. members will debate in vote on for foreign aid ills. three would provide funding to israel, ukraine and taiwan. it's a package of national security measures, including sanctions on russia and iran in forcing china to divest from tiktok or the apple face a ban

in the u.s. the house will vote on border security and immigration policy legislation. watch live coverage here on c-span. next week on the c-span networks, the houses out for the passover holiday. the sate is in to consider house foreign-made billsn wednesday from the washington tional cathedral, a conversation between liz cheney and john beauchamp on how america's leaders can put principles first. and americans can improve on relationships. on thursday, the supreme court will hear oral arguments to decide if former president donald trump is immune from criminal prosecution for his alleged role in trying to overturn the 20 election results. and former members of the house and senate meet at the pen by an center for a conference to discuss the current state of congress and potential changes it could implement to operate more smoothly. on saturday, thehite house correspondents dinner, washington's premier black tie event. this year's headliner is calling

joe's to an president biden is expected to speak. watch next wk live on the c-span network or on c-span now, our free mobile video app. also, head to c-span.org for specs -- for scheduling information or watch live or on-demand anytime. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including comcast. >> you think this is just a community center? it's way more than that. >> comcast is partnering with a thousand committee centers to create wi-fi enabled listings so students from low income families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. comcast supports c-span as a blic service, along with these other tevision providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy.