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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., rejected support for Medicare for All and the Democratic Socialists of America’s (DSA) agenda Sunday, saying Democrats should prioritize affordability as they seek to recapture the House in November following a wave of progressive primary victories.
“Meet the Press,” host Kristen Welker asked Jeffries directly whether he personally supported Medicare for All.
“No, i — as you indicated, I haven’t cosponsored the Medicare for All legislation that has been introduced over the last several years,” Jeffries said. “I do think we need to figure out how to fix our broken health care system and then build something better once we repair the damage that has been done.”
Jeffries also said that as the Democratic leader in the House, it was not legislation he supported, while also reiterating that he wanted to find a path to fix the health care system and “make health care affordable for every single American.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., rejected Medicare for All and distanced himself from the Democratic Socialists of America’s agenda. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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Congressional records show Jeffries formally co-sponsored the Medicare for All Act of 2019 and later co-sponsored the 2021 version. However, he was not among the 102 additional House cosponsors announced when Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., introduced H.R. 3069 in April 2025.
The NYC DSA Healthcare Working Group credited its months-long organizing campaign with helping secure his 2019 support, although it described his position as qualified because he also backed Medicare X, a public-option bill.
“Rep. Jeffries’ public endorsement of this legislation is the result of all these efforts and of this growing national movement,” the working group said at the time.
The DSA’s new “Workers Deserve More!” program calls for universal health care at no cost to individuals, as well as abolishing ICE and the Senate, replacing the president and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary subordinate to Congress and redirecting police funding as a step toward fully abolishing police and prisons.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., broke with Jeffries and called Medicare for All “arguably the most important priority.” (REUTERS/Ammar Awad)
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When Welker asked whether democratic socialists belong under the Democratic Party’s tent, Jeffries rejected the organization’s platform while leaving room for candidates who win Democratic nominations.
“I don’t support the DSA agenda as has been articulated by the DSA itself,” Jeffries said.
“You’re going to have individual members who have been elected in Democratic primaries, and if they are elected in the general in November, will be part of the House Democratic Caucus. It’s going to be a broad caucus. There will be progressives. There will be New Dems. There will be Blue Dogs,” he added.
Seven incumbent House Democrats have lost primaries this cycle, thus far. They include Jeffries-backed Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat, who lost to DSA-backed or affiliated candidates, Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York.
The Democratic Socialists of America previously credited a pressure campaign with helping secure Jeffries’ support for Medicare for All in 2019. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images North America)
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Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., publicly broke with Jeffries in a separate “Meet the Press” interview on Sunday and called for a House vote if Democrats regain the majority.
“Medicare for All is arguably the most important priority,” Khanna said. “The case for Medicare for All has never been clearer or more urgent. Congress must pass Medicare for All.”
Khanna released a statement on an updated Yale analysis on Friday, prepared in response to his inquiry, projecting that a single-payer system could reduce annual national health expenditures from $5.28 trillion to $4.24 trillion.
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Former MS NOW host Mehdi Hasan also criticized Jeffries’ position Sunday, accusing the Democratic leader of being out of step with his party.
“A reminder that the vast majority of Democrats across the country support Medicare for All. This man is so out of touch with his party. How is he their leader??” Hasan said in an X post.
Fox News Digital reached out to the DSA for comment, but did not immediately hear back.