House Minority Leader Jeffries defends Democrats' healthcare push amid shutdown

By Scott Detrow,

Kathryn Fink, Patrick Jarenwattananon

Published October 2, 2025 at 4:26 PM EDT

NPR's Scott Detrow talks with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on his Democratic Party's strategy to resolve the government shutdown.

Corrected: October 2, 2025 at 7:11 PM EDT

A previous headline for this interview mistakenly identified Hakeem Jeffries as the Senate Minority Leader. He is the House Minority Leader.

Scott Detrow

Scott Detrow is a White House correspondent for NPR and co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.

Kathryn Fink

Kathryn Fink is a producer with NPR's All Things Considered.

Patrick Jarenwattananon