Chairman Aguilar: The Republican Recession is becoming more and more likely
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar joined Vice Chair Ted Lieu for a press conference on the economy heading towards a recession while House Republicans stay silent.
CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning. I'm always pleased to be joined with the Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, Ted Lieu. We just left a successful Caucus meeting and had a productive conversation today. Many of our Members will be heading to Tucson tomorrow to pay respects for our colleague, Raul Grijalva. His legacy for clean air, clean water and a strong economy for working people will be greatly missed.
House Democrats spent last week talking to our constituents back home, and despite Donald Trump's promise to lower costs that they face, it has not become any easier for anyone to buy groceries. Tariffs are making everyday goods more expensive, and illegal cuts are threatening the services that people rely on. And it's clear: the Republican recession is becoming more and more likely, and it will make things even worse. The cost of living will be too high, and we'll start to see more layoffs. People will lose their jobs, potentially their homes and their health care. And the Republican budget, cutting $880 billion from Medicaid, will make health care more expensive, especially for people who are out of work because of the Republican recession.
It didn't have to be this way. Donald Trump inherited a growing economy and falling inflation, but in eight weeks, he's made it worse across the board. Meanwhile, House Republicans are turning a blind eye to the economy while it's going off the cliff. House Democrats are focused on bringing down the cost of living and stopping these Republican cuts to Medicaid. Vice Chair Ted Lieu.
VICE CHAIR LIEU: Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth should resign.
He recklessly texted operational details of military strikes, including time, place, location and sequencing of those strikes, to a journalist. Had that information gotten to the Houthis, American pilots could have been shot down, Navy sailors could have been targeted. His reckless actions endanger the lives of American troops, endanger our national security, and makes it so that our allies don't want to share sensitive classified information with us anymore.
In addition, Signal is not approved for government use, especially for this kind of use. Before entering politics, I had a secret security clearance. I served active duty in the U.S. military, and when you go to a secure facility, the first thing they make you do is they make you put your phones outside the facility. So, you can't have our top national security professionals using an app that's commercially available and not authorized for this use to be discussing these kinds of war plans. They never should have been on that Signal chat to begin with, and they made it worse by having a journalist on that chat. These are reckless actions by the Secretary of Defense, and he also made it worse. Instead of accepting responsibility, he lied to the American people. He said this was all a hoax when confronted by a reporter while the White House confirmed that these Signal chats were authentic. Instead of apologizing to the American people, Hegseth lied to the American people. The cover-up is even worse—actually, I don't think the cover-up is worse. This whole thing is really, really bad. It shows how not serious these national security professionals take our national security. Hegseth needs to resign, and everyone on that text chain needs to go take some courses on how to deal with national security and classified information.
Video of the full press conference and Q&A can be viewed here.
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