CNN’s Jake Tapper grills House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on live television about hidden provisions in the Democrats’ spending bill that fund emergency Medicaid for noncitizens, exposing the healthcare-for-illegals loophole Democrats don’t want Americans to see.
The confrontation came amid the ongoing government shutdown, where Democrats are blocking a clean continuing resolution unless Republicans cave to their demands for bloated spending, including the extension of Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of 2025.
But Tapper wasn’t letting Jeffries off the hook with the usual Democrat talking points about protecting Americans.
Tapper was forced to read aloud Subtitle E of the bill to Jeffries, a section Republicans have rightly exposed as a Trojan horse for open-borders healthcare handouts.
Jake Tapper:
Donald Trump blessed it as well. Let me ask you about a provision that the Republicans are talking about quite a bit. I know you want to talk about, and Democrats want to talk about, extending the Obamacare subsidies which expire at the end of 2025. But they talk about the provisions, and it’s right here—Subtitle E.This has to do with the repeal of health care subtitle changes, and specifically what it is. How they characterize it is: you want to give health insurance to undocumented immigrants. I understand that’s not really an accurate depiction, but what it does do is—
Hakeem Jeffries:
It’s a lie.Jake Tapper:
It’s a lie. But what you support does bring back funding for emergency Medicaid to hospitals, some of which does pay for undocumented immigrants and people who don’t have health insurance.Also, there is this provision, and it’s not about undocumented immigrants. It’s about people with asylum seekers and people with temporary protected status, et cetera, et cetera, but about their ability to get Medicaid.
They’re non-citizens. They’re not undocumented, they’re not illegal. Why even include that in a bill, knowing that they’re going to seize right upon that and use that as a message?
WATCH:
HOLY CRAP! Hakeem Jeffries REGRETS going on CNN, Jake Tapper just embarrassed him. pic.twitter.com/KmdS9gMxJN
TAPPER: Here’s a provision…it shows you want to give illegal aliens healthcare…
JEFFRIES: It’s a lie!
TAPPER: It’s a lie – BUT, what you support DOES bring back…
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 1, 2025
Tapper also went after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s own contradictions based on Jeffries explanation:
Jake Tapper:
The Partisan Spending Bill, is that the one big, beautiful bill or the continuing resolution? Because this continuing resolution just funds the government at the current level.Chuck Schumer:
Well, actually, the continuing resolution that they have presented to the Congress is a partisan bill. House Democrats voted against it in March because it hurt veterans, hurt seniors, hurt children, hurt childcare affordability, hurt housing affordability, and hurt healthcare. That’s why we opposed it.Jake Tapper:
You’re saying that Chuck Schumer then voted for a Republican partisan bill, because he voted for that—so did nine other Democrats.Schumer himself backed what Democrats now call a “partisan” GOP bill.
WATCH:
CNN: Republicans’ bill just funds government at the current level.
JEFFRIES: Erm no actually it’s partisan. We voted against it in March.
CNN: So… you’re saying Chuck Schumer voted for a Republican partisan bill when he and nine other Democrats voted for it in March? pic.twitter.com/LpTxcaXapi
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 1, 2025
Below are the screenshots of the provision:
Here it is. Democrats are liars. https://t.co/TXm7lgC33w pic.twitter.com/OB7TM1jU35
— GOP (@GOP) October 1, 2025
