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Hakeem Jeffries: “I called for him to be terminated several months ago in the…”

Featuring: Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic | U.S. House New York, 8th Congressional District

Leader Jeffries on CNN's The Situation Room

Published December 3, 2025 | Video Starts at 00:53

That's what the American people deserve. Why do you call him so called Defense Secretary? This is the most unqualified Secretary of defense in American history. I called for him to be terminated several months ago in the aftermath of the Signal Gate scandal. And there's still some additional information and I think will be revealed to the American people as to why that was so problematic. Yeah, we're covering that as well. (00:53–01:00)

CLAIM

Asserts that he previously called for the termination of the Secretary of Defense due to the Signal Gate scandal.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Hakeem Jeffries

“They [Republicans] enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history.”
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“They're [Republicans] attacking the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institute of Health, making vaccines unavailable.”
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“In some cases, actually deporting citizen children of the United States of America.”
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“More than 14 million people are about to lose their health insurance as a result of what Republicans did in their one big ugly bill.”
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“It's not clear to me that the so called Secretary of Defense is being truthful in this instance.”
Leader Jeffries on CNN's The Situation Room | Uploaded December 3, 2025 | 00:26-00:32
“This is the most unqualified Secretary of defense in American history.”
Leader Jeffries on CNN's The Situation Room | Uploaded December 3, 2025 | 00:47-00:54
“There's reason to believe that war crimes may have been committed.”
Leader Jeffries on CNN's The Situation Room | Uploaded December 3, 2025 | 01:18-01:22
“A potential extrajudicial killing off the coast of Venezuela.”
Leader Jeffries on CNN's The Situation Room | Uploaded December 3, 2025 | 01:41-01:47
“The reality is this indictment was very thin to begin with.”
Leader Jeffries on CNN's The Situation Room | Uploaded December 3, 2025 | 02:14-02:20
“The charges were eventually going to be dismissed, if not at the trial court level by the Supreme Court.”
Leader Jeffries on CNN's The Situation Room | Uploaded December 3, 2025 | 02:20-02:25
“Costs aren't going down, they're going up. Housing costs out of control. Grocery costs out of control. Electricity prices out of control.”
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“Republicans refuse to extend the Affordable Care act tax credits.”
Leader Jeffries on CNN's The Situation Room | Uploaded December 3, 2025 | 04:28-04:33
“Tens of millions of people are about to experience dramatically increased health care costs.”
Leader Jeffries on CNN's The Situation Room | Uploaded December 3, 2025 | 04:32-04:39
“The American people strongly disagree with the approach that Donald Trump has taken in terms of interior enforcement and immigration.”
Leader Jeffries on CNN's The Situation Room | Uploaded December 3, 2025 | 05:38-05:47
“They're not going after violent felons. They're breaking up families.”
Leader Jeffries on CNN's The Situation Room | Uploaded December 3, 2025 | 05:50-05:55
“Donald Trump's approval rating on immigration was underwater by 25 points.”
Leader Jeffries on CNN's The Situation Room | Uploaded December 3, 2025 | 06:07-06:14
“Hospitals, nursing homes, community based health centers are closing throughout the country.”
Leader Jeffries on CNN's The Situation Room | Uploaded December 3, 2025 | 08:36-08:41
“We have a discharge petition that has the support of all 214 members of the House Democratic Caucus.”
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Leader Jeffries on CNN's The Situation Room | Uploaded December 3, 2025 | 10:12-10:20
“We're talking about West Virginia, Wyoming, Alaska, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, Texas, North Dakota and South Dakota.”
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