即将上任的众议院民主党领袖纽约的哈基姆·杰弗里斯周日，他淡化了与共和党人合作选举众议院下一任议长的机会，因为共和党一直在努力团结在他们的领袖周围加利福尼亚州的凯文·麦卡锡。
当美国广播公司“本周”节目主持人乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯(George Stephanopoulos)问及如果麦卡锡未能获得议长职位，他是否会与共和党中间派达成协议时，鉴于麦卡锡在下届国会中的多数席位将非常微弱，杰弗里斯提出异议。
“好吧，我们必须组织起来，准备在1月3日开始工作，”杰弗里斯说，他指的是下一任议长的选举日期。“他们必须站在自己一边组织起来，我们看看会发生什么。”
“我不会说这是一种可能性。当斯特凡诺普洛斯问及一位“愿意妥协”的议长是否可以推进民主党的目标时，杰弗里斯补充说:“现在，民主党人正在准备做好准备，因为我们暂时从多数党过渡到少数党。”“我认为现在的问题是其他共和党人会怎么做。从我们的立场来看，我们知道我们的使命是什么。”
过去四年担任众议院少数党领袖的麦卡锡仍在努力为他竞选议长争取必要的支持。在上个月的闭门投票中，他获得了成为共和党提名人所必需的支持，但他所在的会议成员中有明显的少数人投票反对他。
明年将成为多数党的222名共和党人中，有5人表示不会投票支持麦卡锡领导他们。
“他现在似乎很难到达218层。但我们会看到1月3日会发生什么，”杰弗里斯在“本周”节目中说，如果整个众议院都出席，麦卡锡需要多少票才能赢得议长职位。
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries speaks to reporters just after he was elected by House Democrats to be the new leader when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi steps aside in the new Congress under the Republican majority, at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Nov. 30, 2022.
J.斯科特·阿普尔怀特/美联社
众议院民主党人将反对共和党调查的“兔子洞”
杰弗里斯还严厉批评了他所说的共和党内的极端主义，指出民主党人在特朗普政府期间能够与共和党人达成一些两党妥协，但如果强硬派的声音在下届众议院多数席位中得到提升，类似的协议可能会很难达成。
“过道另一边的问题是:共和党人会怎么做?他们会对我们从马乔里·泰勒·格林这样的人身上看到的极端主义加倍甚至加倍吗?那将是不幸的，”他说。
尽管如此，杰弗里斯说，仍有一些潜在的共同原因，尽管他在这些机会和共和党对白宫的调查之间划出了一条清晰的界限，保守派表示需要监督。
杰弗里斯说:“我们的任务是尽可能找到与共和党人合作的方法，为美国人民做些事情，解决与经济和通货膨胀有关的问题，降低成本，争取更好的薪酬工作和更安全的社区。”“但在必要的时候，我们也会反对，”他补充说，“特别是当它涉及到对政府进行不必要、不合理、不可接受的调查的任何努力时。”
杰弗里斯说他不是一个“过去的选举否认者”
斯特凡诺普洛斯问杰弗里斯，他是否对参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)等共和党人的批评有所回应，麦康奈尔表示，杰弗里斯是一名“过去的选举否认者”，因为他攻击特朗普担任总统的合法性。
“我对形势的看法非常明确:我支持唐纳德·特朗普当选的认证。我参加了他的就职典礼...与此同时，我将毫不犹豫地批评前总统，”他说。
杰弗里斯接着谴责特朗普本周末在社交媒体平台上建议推翻宪法，因为特朗普在2020年总统大选中毫无根据地声称存在欺诈。
“共和党人将不得不解决他们与前总统的问题，并决定他们是要脱离他，回到某种合理的外表，还是继续倾向于极端主义，不仅是特朗普，而是特朗普主义，”杰弗里斯说。“中止宪法是一个非同寻常的步骤，但我们已经习惯了前总统发表的非同寻常的声明。”
Jeffries downplays chances of ‘compromise’ speaker as McCarthy faces pushback
Incoming House Democratic leaderHakeem Jeffries of New Yorkon Sunday played down the chances of his caucus working with Republicans to elect the chamber's next speaker as the GOP has wrestled withunifying around their leader, Kevin McCarthy of California.
When pressed by ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos on whether he would entertain an agreement with Republican centrists should McCarthy fail to clinch the speakership, given how narrow McCarthy's majority will be in the next Congress, Jeffries demurred.
"Well, we have to organize on our side and be prepared to hit the ground running on Jan. 3," Jeffries said, referencing the date that the next speaker will be elected. "They have to organize on their side, and we'll see what happens."
"I wouldn't say that it's a possibility. Right now, Democrats are preparing to get ourselves ready as we transition temporarily from the majority into the minority," Jeffries added when Stephanopoulos asked if a speaker who was "willing to compromise" could advance Democrats' goals. "I think the question right now is what other Republicans are going to do. From our standpoint, we know what our mission is."
McCarthy, who served as House minority leader for the past four years, is still working to corral the necessary support for his bid to be speaker. A closed-door vote last month saw him clinch the support necessary to be the GOP nominee, but a notable minority of his conference's members voted against him.
Of the 222 Republicans who will be in the majority next year, five have said they won't vote for McCarthy to lead them.
"He seems to be having a difficult time at this moment getting to 218. But we'll see what happens on Jan. 3," Jeffries said on "This Week" of the number of votes McCarthy would need to win the speakership if the entire House was present.
House Democrats will oppose 'rabbit hole' of GOP investigations
Jeffries also lambasted what he said was extremism within the GOP, noting that Democrats had been able to find some bipartisan compromises with Republicans during the Trump administration but that similar agreements could be difficult if hardline voices are elevated in the next House majority.
"The question on the other side of the aisle is: What will Republicans do? Are they gonna double and triple down on the extremism that we've seen from people like Marjorie Taylor Greene? That would be unfortunate," he said.
Still, Jeffries said, there were some areas of potential common cause -- though he drew a bright line between those opportunities and Republican probes of the White House, which conservatives have said is needed oversight.
"Our mission is to find ways to work with Republicans whenever possible to get things done for the American people, to work on issues related to the economy and inflation and lowing costs, fighting for better paying jobs and safer communities," Jeffries said. "But we will also oppose them when we must," he added, "particularly as it relates to any effort to go down this rabbit hole of unnecessary, unconscionable, unacceptable investigations of the administration."
Jeffries says he's not a 'past election denier'
Stephanopoulos asked Jeffries if he had a response to criticism from Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said Jeffries was a "past election denier" for attacking Trump's legitimacy as president.
"My view of the situation has been pretty clear: I supported the certification of Donald Trump's election. I attended his inauguration ... At the same time, I will never hesitate in criticizing the former president," he said.
Jeffries went on to denounce Trump for suggesting on his social media platform this weekend that the Constitution should be overturned because of Trump's baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election he lost.
"The Republicans are gonna have to work out their issues with the former president and decide whether they're gonna break from him and return to some semblance of reasonableness or continue to lean into the extremism, not just of Trump, but of Trumpism," Jeffries said. "Suspending the Constitution is an extraordinary step, but we're used to extraordinary statements being made by the former president."
