Jeffries claims Trump budget bill will steal food from ‘the mouths of babies’ while enriching billionaires

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries railed against a budget bill that would advance President Donald Trump’s agenda as legislation that would take food from the mouths of babies in order to enrich billionaire “puppet masters.” 

“These MAGA extremists are trying to jam a reckless budget down the throat of the American people,” Jeffries said during a Monday press conference. “Take away health care from the American people. Strip away veterans benefits from the American people. And hurt nutritional assistance and literally take food out of the mouths of babies in America.” 

“Why? Because they want to pass massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors and puppet masters like Elon Musk. This is Republican policy in America, and it’s a complete and total disaster.” 

The House’s framework for the budget bill passed in February and included $4.5 trillion for extending Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and implementing newer Trump proposals like no taxes on tipped wages. Senate Republicans approved a blueprint version of the bill Saturday. The legislation currently hangs in the balance as Republican lawmakers hash out details of the final version of the bill. 

The New York Democrat’s press conference was in response to Trump’s recently unveiled tariff plans that will level customized tariffs on countries that have historically higher tariffs in place on American goods, as well as a baseline tariff of 10% on other nations. 

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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks at his weekly press conference at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington. (Getty Images)

The House minority leader added in his address that the Trump administration is “extreme” and that the president is “intentionally inflicting” economic “pain on the American people.”

“Instead of costs going down, which Donald Trump promised would happen on day one of his presidency, costs aren’t going down. They’re going up. Inflation is going up. Donald Trump and Republicans are actually crashing the economy in real time,” he said. 

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“They are intentionally inflicting pain on the American people,” Jeffries claimed. “This Trump tax, these reckless tariffs will cost the American people thousands of dollars a year. It’s the largest tax increase on the American people since 1968. This is what Donald Trump’s presidency and Republicans in control of the House and the Senate are delivering to America, not lower costs.”

President Donald Trump unveiled his Liberation Day tariff plan on April 2. (Getty Images)

“The Leader’s comments yesterday speak for themselves,” Jeffries’ office told Fox Digital when approached for additional comment on the matters.

Trump slammed mounting concerns over the economy following his tariff announcement Wednesday, which Trump dubbed “Liberation Day” — and coined a new term called “panican,” which the president described as a political party of “Weak and Stupid people.” 

“The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO. Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid! Don’t be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!). Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!” he posted to Truth Social Monday. 

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“Oil prices are down, interest rates are down (the slow moving Fed should cut rates!), food prices are down, there is NO INFLATION, and the long time abused USA is bringing in Billions of Dollars a week from the abusing countries on Tariffs that are already in place,” Trump added. 

President Donald Trump holds a chart as he delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled “Make America Wealthy Again” at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 2, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

The Trump administration has celebrated the recent tariff announcements as evening the trade playing field for the U.S. after decades of other nations leveling lofty duty taxes on U.S. goods, as well as ushering in a job boon, lowering taxes for citizens and protecting the U.S. supply chain by manufacturing goods on American soil. 

“American steel workers, auto workers, farmers and skilled craftsmen,” Trump said from the White House Rose Garden Wednesday afternoon. “We have a lot of them here with us today. They really suffered, gravely. They watched in anguish as foreign leaders have stolen our jobs, foreign cheaters have ransacked our factories, and foreign scavengers have torn apart our once-beautiful American dream. We had an American dream that you don’t hear so much about. You did four years ago, and you are now. But you don’t too often.” 

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“Now it’s our turn to prosper, and in so doing, use trillions and trillions of dollars to reduce our taxes and pay down our national debt,” he continued. “And it will all happen very quickly. With today’s action, we are finally going to be able to make America great again, greater than ever before. Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country, and you see it happening already. We will supercharge our domestic industrial base.”

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.