AILSA CHANG, HOST:
All right, it's 7:06 p.m. in Washington, D.C., where I'm hosting our program live. And polls here are set to close in just under an hour. This has been a consequential election cycle that ultimately will determine control of Congress, with Democrats favored to win the House. And so we wanted to hear from Democratic leaders about how they're feeling tonight. Representative Pete Aguilar of California is the chair of the House Democratic Caucus and joins us now. Welcome.
PETE AGUILAR: Good to be with you, Ailsa.
CHANG: Good to have you. OK, so I know it's still very early in the night, as far as election night goes, but how are you feeling about where things stand at the moment?
AGUILAR: We're feeling very good about where things stand. A record number of people have already voted - early voting, voting by mail.
CHANG: Yeah.
AGUILAR: And millions of people are making their plan to vote right now. So this is going to be a great night. We feel confident. We're excited about what's ahead, but we still need to ensure that every person who has an opportunity to cast a ballot does.
CHANG: And if Democrats do indeed retake the House, what do Democrats plan to prioritize?
AGUILAR: Well, we think one of the stories of this election is Donald Trump's failed promises. He promised to lower people's costs on Day 1. He promised to cut your utility bill in half. None of that has happened, obviously. And if anything, he's made things worse with a reckless war of choice in Iran raising gas prices for every American, diesel prices for farmers and ranchers, fertilizer costs going up, housing, healthcare. The list goes on and on.
CHANG: The list does go on.
AGUILAR: The costs (ph)...
CHANG: Let's talk about living costs because how would Democrats address living costs in a substantive way to fix the rising cost of things like, as you say, gas, groceries, healthcare?
AGUILAR: Well, we've been very clear, and Democrats have proven solutions, you know, on these issues. The Affordable Care Act tax credits that Republicans - that Donald Trump dismantled, Republicans - 17 Republicans joined with Democrats to support that on the House floor. There are bipartisan solutions, but we also feel strongly that we need to roll back the pain that this administration has brought to bear, specifically the painful cuts to Medicaid and supplemental nutrition programs across the country. So rolling those back is very top of mind.
Also, when it comes to, you know, housing and HUD, this administration hasn't even spent some of the funds that Congress has allocated. I mean, let's start with the basics. But clearly, issues like housing, there are bipartisan solutions. Every Democrat voted for the housing bill that the president let become law without his signature, by the way, his own form of a temper tantrum. But, you know, we will develop and craft solutions that will help the American people. And that is our - that is what we feel is our mandate and our responsibility. It's what we've talked about, and it's what we feel passionate about.
CHANG: You speak about rolling back pain. Let me turn to the idea of pain because there are a lot of people out there expecting Democrats to inflict pain on President Trump. I want to turn to something that House Speaker Mike Johnson said last month. He was talking to Scott Jennings, who's a conservative commentator, and Jennings was asking Johnson how sure he was that Democrats would move to impeach President Trump. And here's how Johnson responded.
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MIKE JOHNSON: It's guaranteed probably on the first day, first or second day. Remember, they've already filed articles of impeachment in this Congress. I mean, they're rearing to go. And that's what you could expect.
CHANG: Well, let me just ask you, Congressman Aguilar, are there serious plans if you retake the House as Democrats to try to impeach President Trump again?
AGUILAR: No. We are focused on delivering on the affordability agenda. Now, that doesn't mean that we are opposed to accountability and oversight. This administration needs that clearly. They are reckless and irresponsible at just about every level, including the most, you know, corrupt and inept Cabinet ever assembled. But I think we can start there. Keep in mind, it was a Republican who filed articles of impeachment on Pete Hegseth, and Speaker Johnson, who you just talked...
CHANG: Right.
AGUILAR: ...Who you just played there, actually sent us home, sent us back to our districts in September to avoid that vote because it was going to be bipartisan.
CHANG: Well, when it comes to...
AGUILAR: We believe (ph) strongly in accountability, and that's what we plan to do.
CHANG: In the last minute and a half we have left - when it comes to oversight and accountability, if Democrats were in charge of the House, do you expect to be investigating the Trump administration, and if so, what will you be looking into first?
AGUILAR: There will be a host of investigations, and Jamie Raskin with the Judiciary Committee and Robert Garcia with House Oversight will take leadership roles on those issues. And there is plenty to investigate, but I'll tell you what the American public wants us to investigate are the grift and the corruption, the self-dealing, the no-bid contracts, all of those things that are stealing taxpayers' money that otherwise could be going to deliver on the priorities that they care about, you know, delivering on healthcare. When you're building ballrooms instead - while you're kicking millions of people off of healthcare, that's just - those are just the wrong priorities. And the American people are asking us to address that. And so, you know, we will. We will lean into that, and every committee in Congress has oversight ability. We will work in a coordinated way to deliver this with the focus on the American people and driving down the costs that they face.
CHANG: Democrat Pete Aguilar of California, thank you so much for joining us tonight on election night.
AGUILAR: Thanks, Ailsa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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