TRANSCRIPT: Leader Schumer Joins “The Briefing With Jen Psaki” To Discuss Trump’s Reckless Military Operation In Venezuela And Democrats’ Fight To Lower Costs
Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today joined MS Now’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki to discuss the Trump administration’s handling of its military operation in Venezuela, the shooting of a U.S. citizen by an ICE agent in Minnesota, and Democrats’ commitment to advancing policies that reduce costs for American families. Below is the transcript of the interview between Leader Schumer and Jen Psaki:
Jen Psaki: Leader Schumer, thank you for being here with me on a very, very busy news day. There's a lot to get to. I just wanted to start, though, of course, with the horrific shooting we saw in Minneapolis this morning, I think we have all watched that video really with horror so many times. I know you have seen it. Just I just want to start by getting your reaction to what you were thinking about when you watched that video.
Leader Chuck Schumer: It's horrific. And when you hear the lady screaming saying, “what the F are you doing?,” and you see what happened, you feel like a punch in the stomach. What the hell is going on here? And the bottom line is very simple, Jen. We should not have ICE agents patrolling our streets. They're not needed. They create chaos, and they even create deaths. The mayor of Minneapolis didn't want them. So many other cities didn't. This is sort of Trump strutting around, but they don't belong in our cities, plain and simple. We need a full investigation here as to what happened.
Psaki: Others have called for that. Of course, that makes sense. Anyone who has watched that video wants that to happen. We also saw today the Department of Homeland Security lie about what happened. We saw the President of the United States lie about what happened. This is so different from what we have seen from presidents of both parties for so many decades. And I can't believe we have to ask this question, but do you trust that the FBI, do you trust them to handle over the oversight of this investigation?
Schumer: No. You know, there are a lot of good people in the FBI who have been there for years and are, in a sense, civil servants. They're nonpolitical. Trump has changed the FBI and many of our other judicial agencies into attack dogs for him. No one has any faith in them. No one has any trust in them. And this is, you know, one of the, there are so many horrible things happening in America, Jen, but we always had norms in this country. As you mentioned, previous presidents, Democrat, Republican would not come to this kind of lying to protect themselves. And when you destroy those norms, you really destroy what the essence of America has always been. And it is just angering, perturbing, confounding. You just want to say, God damn them.
Psaki: You've been outspoken and critical of ICE, and obviously they've been very active in New York as well, your home state. But today, in response to this shooting, Senator Chris Murphy said that Senate Democrats should really cannot vote for a DHS budget that doesn't restrain the growing lawlessness of this agency. Obviously their budget, as you well know, has increased massively over the course of the last year. Are we at that point? I mean, is he right? Should Democrats vote against a DHS budget that doesn't meaningfully restrain ICE?
Psaki: You've been outspoken and critical of ICE, and obviously they've been very active in New York as well, your home state. But today, in response to this shooting, Senator Chris Murphy said that Senate Democrats should really, cannot vote for a DHS budget that doesn't restrain the growing lawlessness of this agency. Obviously their budget, as you well know, has increased massively over the course of the last year. Are we at that point? I mean, is he right? Should Democrats vote against a DHS budget that doesn't meaningfully restrain ICE?
Schumer: Well, first Chris Murphy is on the Appropriations Committee and head of a powerful subcommittee that has jurisdiction. They haven't come to this issue yet debating the DHS budget, but I think there'll be a very, that that will be one of the issues that will really be discussed. I don't want to prejudge what they're going to say or do, but I do believe that there will be a very vigorous discussion about this.
Psaki: What do you think, though, as and I know you're the leader, but as an individual Senator as well, do you think there should be accountability before their budget is supported?
Schumer: Look, well, look, I'm appalled by what they do. I have repeatedly voted for many different restrictions on ICE and the FBI. And I believe that this committee, the committee will consider it in a very serious way.
Psaki: But let's turn to Venezuela. There's quite a split screen right now and a very not a good one for the Trump administration. There is chaos and mourning happening in Minneapolis, and there is obviously a tremendous amount of chaos happening around the operation in Venezuela. Trump, President Trump himself, as you know, and everybody watching knows and members of his administration are talking openly about escalating into other countries. You've now said in two briefings you expressed concern yesterday, is that what you're preparing for? Is that what people watching should be preparing for then, escalating into other countries with military action?
Schumer: Look, I’ve sat through two classified briefings, and I’ve asked them a whole lot of questions. How many troops are you going to want there? I asked them how long will it take? How much will it cost? I asked them do they have plans to use military action in Colombia? In Mexico? In Cuba? Even in Greenland of all places! I cannot tell you their exact answers cause it was a classified briefing but, I’ll can tell you this: it was extremely unsatisfying and unnerving to hear their answers. I'll tell you one other thing; they have no plan for Venezuela! They did step one, take out Maduro. They don't know of steps two, three, four, five, six. The people, the vice president who they put in charge is known as corrupt, is known as dishonest and is known as hating the United States. She thinks the CIA killed one of her family members. And so, I think we're on the steps to an endless war. Trump campaigned, Jen, against endless war in Iraq. And now he is he is not just bumbling into it. He's heading full steam ahead into it. And it's going to be terrible for the American people. And one more point, when you contrast this with what people want him to do, what we Democrats are focused on doing, which is reducing the costs. We had a great hearing today with Elizabeth Warren on reducing housing costs, reducing the cost of health insurance, reducing the cost of energy, reducing the cost of groceries, reducing the costs of so much else. And here he is in these military adventurism down in South America. It is so totally against what the American people want. Then he says, when he talked to the Republican Senators, “I don't know what the American people want.” Well, he is in such a damn bubble. He has no understanding of what the average person is going through and what the average person wants us to do.
Psaki: No question. And I want to ask you about all of that. I have only one more question on Venezuela for you, which is just about you've expressed confidence in a War Powers Resolution passing the Senate, which I will just say, I've been through this a lot. That would be a big step. This does not always happen at all. You've also said around the briefing today that there was bipartisan concern during today's briefing, as there as there should be, given what we're seeing.
Schumer: Yes
Psaki: In order, though, even if the Senate War Resolution passes, Trump, I would expect you tell me if I'm wrong here, would veto it. Is there enough Republican support you think could be built to override? That would require two thirds of the Senate, of course, that.
Schumer: You know, as the Americans are learning about this and they learn more and more about it, the outrage of what Trump is doing is going to grow and grow and grow. It's a little bit like the Epstein files. At first, Trump tried to resist. He said, I'm not going to do it. But the outrage in the country, not just from Democrats, but from the right wing. And remember, endless war was one of the biggest ways he campaigned to win right wing votes along with Epstein files, and they turned against him because they saw he broke his promises to them. He lied to them. And because he's so against what they want. So, if we keep pushing at this, and Senator Kaine and I are going to keep pushing more resolutions, I think we can get Republicans to vote for us. Tomorrow would be a great step in the Senate. We need two more votes. We have two, Rand Paul and Murkowski. We have two more Republican votes. We win in the Senate, and then the pressure on Republicans goes over to the House.
Psaki: Yeah, it's I just wanted to raise this. I think it's important for people out there to understand what it requires and the need to keep pressing. Let me ask you about where pressing and pressure actually really worked. I mean, the House is reportedly scheduled, you tell me if you know more, you probably do know more but when it's going to happen, to vote on the discharge petition this week on health care, we saw with the Epstein files that that Leader Thune initially had no real interest, at least publicly, in bringing it up for a vote until it passed the House nearly unanimously. So, if this passes the House, what's your sense? You know what it's like to whip votes.
Schumer: Yep.
Psaki: On what kind of margin would be required out of the Senate to put that necessary pressure on Thune to force him to bring it up for a vote in the Senate?
Schumer: Well, if we get every Democrat voting for it in the Senate, we’d need 13 Republicans in the House. But let me just say this. The pressure is going to build, and you're seeing Republicans realize that Trump is going to hurt them politically to follow, it's sort of like Thelma and Louise, over the cliff. And so, we're beginning to see ruptures. For a year, they went along with anything Trump wanted. A lot of them, when they talk to me privately on the floor, they know he's a disaster for them substantively and politically, but they're afraid to buck him. We're beginning to see signs in the areas you mentioned on health care with a few Republicans in the House, on the Epstein files with all the Republicans, and maybe here, too, on what the horrors of what they're doing, the craziness, the stupidity of what they're doing in Venezuela, will be the same.
Psaki: This leads me to, I mean, there are a lot the Senate Democrats, including you, of course, helped. You've helped lead it, have your own legislative agenda that you've put out there to push back on this, Republicans dismissal of affordability. And it's focused on five areas health care, energy, housing, groceries, and tariffs. These all seem like issues that Republicans, politically and morally too, should be with you on, given where the public is. But talk to me about how you can pursue that agenda while still in the minority. Do you think you could get support from Republicans, or is this really about informing the public of what's at stake in the elections?
Schumer: Well, you know, Abe Lincoln said it, public sentiment is everything. As they begin to feel the heat that was shaken up by the elections in November in 2025, where Democrats won all over the place, even in places we didn't expect, not just all over the country, even in upstate Republican New York, Democrats won seats we had never won before. And public sentiment is everything. The public is seeing more and more how bad Trump is for them, how he lied to them, how he betrayed them, and I think that is going to mount and help us win some more fights in 2026.
Psaki: Elections have consequences. Leader Chuck Schumer, I hope when it's less slower news day, I hope you'll come back, and we can talk about the Senate and how you're planning to win that back. Thanks so much for joining me.
Schumer: Yeah, we're going to take back the Senate, Jen. Next time I come on, I'll talk to you and give you the details.
Psaki: Sounds good.
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