Jeffries digs in on health care demands
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries rejected a one-year extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits -- drawing a red line on his health care demands.
A bipartisan group in the House has a proposal to extend the ACA tax credits for one year, but Jeffries wants a permanent extension.
"It's not acceptable. It's a non-starter. It was introduced by the same people who just permanently extended massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors. Think about that," Jeffries said at a news conference in the Capitol on Day 7 of the shutdown.

Jeffries said the ACA tax credit extension is a "battle for everyday Americans" and that this is "another example of Republicans throwing out baseless lies to try to defend their indefensible position, which is that they've assaulted the health care of the American people."
Later, though, Jeffries said he'd have an "open mind" regarding an extension of the ACA tax credits "on the merits of what is presented in good faith."
Jeffries dismissed a suggestion to cap or not allow new enrollees to have the subsidies.
"Let's be clear about one thing here again, the notion that a group of people who just jammed these permanent tax breaks down the throats of the American people for their billionaire donors, suggesting that the Affordable Care Act tax credits should not be made available to small business entrepreneurs, to working families, middle-class Americans and everyday Americans, is the irony of all ironies, and if that's their positions, they can take a hike," Jeffries said.
-ABC News' Lauren Peller and John Parkinson







