'Keep your mouth shut!' Republican gets earful after ambushing top Dem in hallway
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) was accused of embarrassing himself after causing chaos in a congressional hallway by confronting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
Instead of meeting with Jeffries in private on Wednesday, Lawler stopped the Democratic leader in front of a crowd of people to ask him to sign on to a temporary extension of subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. Democrats have said that they would not accept only one year of subsidies for the health care program.
"Did your boss, Donald Trump, give you permission?" Jeffries asked.
"He's not my boss!" Lawler insisted. "And by the way, why did you vote to shut the government?"
"You're making a show of this to make yourself relevant," Jeffries charged. "You're embarrassing yourself right now. You're chasing a crowd."
"You have to sign on to the bill," Lawler demanded.
"Let me ask you a question," Jeffries said. "You voted for the 'One Big Ugly Bill,' correct?"
"I voted for a tax cut bill that gave the largest tax cut to Americans in history," Lawler countered. "Are you against that?"
"You're embarrassing yourself right now," Jeffries noted as Lawler talked over him.
"You're not going to talk to me and talk over me because you don't want to hear what I have to say," the Democrat said. "So why don't you just keep your mouth shut?"
"And so you voted for this 'One Big Ugly Bill, a permanent extension of massive tax breaks for your billionaire donors," he added.