Today, the U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on whether on not they wish to compel the Department of Justice to turn over the Epstein files. Unlike the select documents that the House Oversight Committee Democrats received, these files, after also being passed in the Senate, would be turned over to every member of Congress and the public.
In a special edition of The Tea, April is joined by Representative Steven Horsford (D-NV) to discuss why this moment is so critical—not only for the survivors, but for American rule of law. April and Rep. Horsford also discuss America’s hampered relief efforts in Jamaica due to USAID cuts and the affordability crisis everyday Americans are facing nationwide.
Congressman Steven Horsford serves the 4th district of Nevada in the U.S. House of Representatives. There, he sits on the Ways and Means Committee. Rep. Horsford is also the Chairman Emeritus of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
The following transcript has been edited slightly for clarity.
April Ryan
Welcome back to the special edition of The Tea with April. We’re gonna sip some more tea and knock the pot over, and today we are honored to have, Las Vegas Congressman, Rep. Steven Horsford. Yes, when I say Las Vegas, I think about a lot of things, but right now we’re talking about service to the people. How it means service to the people. I think that’s one of the things we forgot about. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us. This is a busy day today in Congress, and you took time out to come and speak to us. Number one, the Epstein files, the vote today. Marjorie Taylor Greene… no, no, let’s go here. What does Donald Trump and Jasmine Crockett have in common? They both dislike Marjorie Taylor Greene. That’s my artful joke. But, Marjorie Taylor Greene is mad with the president over Epstein, over the Epstein files, and potentially what his involvement was. And also, we forget that the First Lady, the now First Lady, was there as well. It’s not just about the President. So what are you, expecting after the vote? On this issue, especially as Republicans are breaking with the President on this?
Rep. Steven Horsford
Well, first, April, it’s great to be with you, and thank you for your phenomenal journalism and continuing to speak truth to power in every form and in every setting. Look, first is, we need to lift up the victims and the survivors of the tragic events that have happened, that are now very much known, but still, all of the evidence that are in the Epstein files have not been fully released.
I want to commend actually Representative Summer Lee, as one of the members of the House oversight committee who pushed, for a subpoena on the Department of Justice Which really led to today’s vote on the discharge petition. Now, let me explain, I was just given a briefing, two things that are happening. Number one, the Oversight Committee Democrats pushed with Summer Lee and Robert Garcia for the Department of Justice to turn over these files. What’s different about that subpoena and the vote today? These files will be turned over to every member of Congress and the public. That is substantial.
April Ryan
That’s transparency. That’s transparency.
Rep. Steven Horsford
Transparency, and other than necessary redactions to protect the victims, all other relevant information must be turned over based on this discharge petition. And so now Donald Trump, and Speaker Johnson and those who have been trying to run from that transparency have no place to hide. The truth will prevail, and the files will be released. If the Senate does its job.
Once the House votes today, which I believe the vote in the House will be overwhelming, because Speaker Johnson can no longer protect pedophiles. No matter what position they hold, no matter what crimes they may have committed.
April Ryan
But I… There’s some irony here for me. Pedophilia is… A horrible, horrendous moral and criminal act. Let’s just put it there. I’m a parent. you’re a parent… it’s… it’s more than cringe-worthy. It makes me… I mean, just to talk about it, it makes me sick to my stomach. But this is where we are after we had the longest government shutdown? People weren’t getting paid, they were… the lines were longer than we’ve ever seen for federal government workers and military personnel to get food at the food pantry. But this could be his kryptonite?
I just find the irony in that. Am I alone?
Rep. Steven Horsford
Well, there clearly is something that they’ve been wanting to hide. There’s a reason that the president’s name has been mentioned more than a thousand times based on reported, information that the committee has, but the full public still doesn’t know. And I want to point this out, April, that Speaker Johnson canceled votes in the House of Representatives back in July, recall, because he didn’t want the votes on this discharge petition to come in up then. He denied swearing in Representative Adelita Grijalva. He did not want her to be the 218th signature, and moments after she was finally sworn in last week, she signed that petition, and now a week later, we are finally getting a vote.
So they’ve been trying to prevent transparency and accountability and the truth. But fortunately, House Democrats have been resolute, the American people have demanded this information come forward, and so nothing that Donald Trump or his Department of Justice, can do now to avoid this information. But I’m still gonna call on the United States Senate to do its job, because they failed before on the shutdown. Yes, they did. I’m concerned that they could try to game this system yet again, and that’s the next step after today’s vote here in the House of Representatives.
April Ryan
And the failure you’re talking about is those 8 Democrats that defected and went along with Republicans to open up the government, just kicking the can down the road to continue the pain on healthcare. But I wanna make two points. I wanna really stress two things when it comes to Epstein, and I’m gonna move on. Mike Johnson listened to his king, Donald Trump. Remember, Donald Trump tried to dismiss it, diminish it, it still stayed. It is a huge elephant in the room that you cannot miss. And when you have Marjorie Taylor Greene, he’s now talking about her.
Rep. Steven Horsford
Right! And she’s mad about that, but… but, you know, we tried to warn her, but as Representative Jasmine Crockett and others have said, you know, you might have wanted to listen and trust black women earlier in the process. We knew, who Donald Trump was all along.
April Ryan
Trust Black Women. I wrote a book about it. Black Women Will Save the World, an anthem, come on now, we there. But, and here’s the last piece on this. I want you all to remember. This is not just about Donald Trump. I don’t care who he’s trying to bring down with him. He’s like, if I go down, I’m bringing you with me. - the only person he’s not talking about is his wife.
There are pictures of Melania, before she was Trump, at Mar-a-Lago, and that is allegedly where they met. So, not just about Donald Trump, I want to hear about the First Lady. I want to know what her involvement was. I mean, it’s not… It sounds like the biggest freak fest that we’ve ever seen, and now they’re trying to downplay. What was your involvement, Madam First Lady? No one talks about her as well, and she’s all up in the pictures. Jeff Epstein introduced them! Hello, somebody! But I digress.
Now, and Congressman, thank you for letting me ramp. I said ramp, I said that, he didn’t, okay? Let’s go to the Caribbean and Jamaica, okay? I’ve been told by Kweisi Mfume of Maryland, also Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Leader—I was gonna call him Speaker, Minority Leader of the House—who said that the Congressional Black Caucus and Yvette Clarke out of New York, the head of the Congressional Black Caucus, are leading the way when it comes to helping in Jamaica.
Now, guys, remember this. One of the main reasons why we’re not leading in this and the UN is, is because USAID is gone. Remember, Doge canceled USAID, and our military that would help? Where are they? They’re in the Caribbean getting ready to bat. This is ridiculous! What’s going on?
Rep. Steven Horsford
Well, I really appreciate you talking about it. It should be more of a national, story, and I want to thank and lift up the hard work of our chair, Yvette Clarke, who is a descendant of Jamaican parents. We’re thankful that they’re safe and secure. So first is making sure that there is a national response, that we help provide aid, like we have done in other major events and hurricanes affecting the Caribbean.
As a son of an immigrant mother from Trinidad, I also understand the impact of the Caribbean and the, unilateral attacks that this administration has been making in Venezuela and the uncertainty that that is causing to the entire region. And so, with Chair Clarke, with Congressman Gregory Meeks as the leading Democrat. on, Foreign Affairs, Kwasi and Fume, and others, the Congressional Black Caucus is going to continue to lift this up.
Why is this so important? Because, you know, there are a large number of Caribbean, American immigrants and descendants here in the United States who care and are worried about their family members. There are national security interests. on behalf of the United States, and there are economic interests, from the standpoint of making sure that we continue to build our alliances, with heads of state throughout the CARICOM, and that is something the Congressional Black Caucus has always taken seriously.
April Ryan
And when you say that there are many descendants of the Caribbean nations, Jamaica, Trinidad. Let me tell you, I mean, yeah. I mean, it’s not just… it’s the flavor, it’s the culture, it’s us. It’s part of…
Rep. Steven Horsford
It’s who we are.
April Ryan
That right is part of who we are. But I, you know, I asked Maryland’s governor, Wes Moore. He’s got family who live in Jamaica, and he said, they’re fine, but the country’s devastated.
Rep. Steven Horsford
Right.
April Ryan
You know, I’ve talked to Sheryll Lee Ralph, iconic actress, A-lister, and she said the school in Jamaica that her parents built It’s devastating. So, I mean, even the children can’t go to school. Electricity, I mean, when you have devastation like this, disease, dysentery, cholera again, and so… and unfortunately, again, the United States can’t leave because we’ve diminished USAID. Our military is in the Caribbean. For something else…Last word on that, sir.
Rep. Steven Horsford
Well, look, this administration finds money when it wants to. It found $40 billion to bail out Argentina. It’s why I introduced a bill, the Health Act, to take that money and to use it to actually extend healthcare premium tax credits for Americans here in the United States. They found money, to build a new ballroom, on the East Wing. They found money to give $200 million to Kristi Noem to have, two new jets to fly around the country, and Donald Trump’s asking for $230 million, to sue the Department of Justice For his lawsuits.
April Ryan
No, he wants reparations. Let’s just call it $230 million worth of reparations. That’s what… he wants a repair for what he considers a wrong when people went after him for his breaking of the rule of law. It’s reparations. That’s what he wants.
Rep. Steven Horsford
Well, I would say reparations is something that, based on wrongful treatment, this is a case where Donald Trump committed crimes, and he’s trying to get a bailout, and that is not something that I ,nor members of Congress should support. But the most egregious, of course, is the $4 trillion in tax cuts to billionaires. So they find money when they want to.
And for the people of the Caribbean, the message from the Congressional Black Caucus is, you are not forgotten. We will not be ignored, we will not pass up, and we will make sure that we lift up the issues and the concerns in Jamaica and throughout the region. We stay in regular contact, in fact, with the heads of state from throughout the Caribbean. to make sure that we are engaging with them in a regular basis, and I know with Chair Clarke and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, that will continue to be a priority, no matter what this administration does or does not do.
April Ryan
And you hit a point, especially as you’re on the Ways and Means Committee, you find ways for the means, meaning you find the money to pay for such and such. But it’s interesting how you broke that down, because Donald Trump did say, he said, oh, we pay for what we want to pay for. He said that in the Oval Office, and you’re absolutely correct. And with that said, our last issue, and I’m just thankful that you were with us today, shut down. Post-shutdown. Well, kicking the can down the road shut down, because the pain is still there, and we have until January, I believe, to figure this out, right?
Because we could wind up going back into a whole other government shutdown. We never dealt with the issue of healthcare. Healthcare is skyrocketing, the insurance is skyrocketing, but everything else was dealt with. but not the issue that the Democrats originally stood on.
Rep. Steven Horsford
Well, House Democrats are continuing to fight, to protect people’s healthcare, and to lower the cost on everything from healthcare to housing to groceries to energy bills that are going up under Donald Trump’s America, not going down. And unfortunately, the Senate is banking on a promise. Well, guess what? A promise is not policy. People who are facing, huge health issues can’t take a promise to the doctor’s office. They have to either be covered or pay the bill. And that is why House Democrats have been fighting since day one to protect people’s healthcare.
Now, it’s coming out very clearly that Donald Trump and Republicans want to repeal the Affordable Care Act. They want to weaken Medicaid. They want to deny children the access to have food and literally went up and appealed all the way to the Supreme Court to deny the release of $6 billion of funding from the SNAP program, to feed hungry Americans. That is how cruel and corrupt this administration is. And so, we will continue to fight. The fight can, goes onward. We have January 30th is the next deadline. And, you know, unfortunately, the Senate is where they are. They have a vote by December 9th.
But again, that was just a promise of a vote, not the actual provisions of healthcare policy, which Democrats in the House have been calling for since day one. So, on behalf of the American people who are getting these notices. that their insurance rates are doubling or even tripling. The fact that in Nevada, 1 in 3 Nevadans are covered by Medicaid, and that is the largest cut that we’ve ever had to our healthcare system, in the history of this country. All to do what? To give tax breaks to the very wealthy, to Jeff Bezos and to Elon Musk, and to big corporations, some of whom are not even paying livable wages to their workers, and those workers are on Medicaid and receiving SNAP benefits because they’re not being given or paid a livable wage. That is what House Democrats are fighting for, not just against.
This is not just being against Donald Trump, as cruel and chaotic and corrupt as he and his administration is. This is about what Democrats stand for, and we stand for and with the American people.
April Ryan
And Las Vegas has a large working-class population. What’s the percentage there?
Rep. Steven Horsford
So, I’m proud to represent the largest percentage of tipped workers in the country. It’s one of the reasons that I actually introduced, the No Tax on TIPS bill, the TIPS Act. that has the input of TIP workers that would make the policy permanent, not temporary, and that lifts up the needs of workers, all workers, to get paid a livable wage. April… 70% of tipped workers in this country make as little as $2.13 an hour. That is a Jim Crow policy.
April Ryan
That’s poverty. That’s poverty.
Rep. Steven Horsford
Poverty, and it comes out of the Jim Crow era from the standpoint of not wanting to pay service workers, particularly women and women of color, black women, a livable wage. Well, still today, and that wage has not been increased since 1997, that rate… wage is still set. Fortunately, in places like Las Vegas and Nevada, we pay higher wages. TIP workers are organized by their union, they receive health benefits and a pension, they are, you know, working to be a part of the middle class, and that is the American dream, and that is what we’re fighting for. Donald Trump talks a big game, but then people realize that his policies fall short. And that is true of TIP workers and working people all across this country. They understand that their lives are becoming harder and less affordable under the Trump administration, and with House Democrats, we’re fighting to make it more affordable and easier to get ahead.
April Ryan
Well, I want to thank you for your time. It’s always great to sit and talk to you, and the breakdown, not just nationally, what’s happening in Las Vegas, because people need to know, and in the Caribbean, people need to know what’s happening from people who are really out there fighting, not pundits. Not just the thought class, the people out there trying to serve, and just actually do the work for the people.
Rep. Steven Horsford
We are known as the hospitality capital of the world, and one of the most important forms of hospitality as service, and I get to serve 750,000 people. I say it all the time. I don’t work for Donald Trump, I don’t work for the federal government. I work for 750,000 people in Nevada who elect me to do a job, which is to be their voice here in Washington and to fight on their behalf, and it’s the greatest honor of my life.
April Ryan
And it’s unfortunate that their healthcare, the ACA that, better known as Obamacare, that Donald Trump doesn’t like, because he said it. He said, I’m done with this Obamacare stuff. That’s all… that’s the only reason why, because it’s named after Barack Hussein Obama, and he hates it. And they never came up with another plan. I’m saying it, not the congressman.
Rep. Steven Horsford
It’s true. Now they want to repeal it again. Over 70 times, they voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare. It is the most popular, effective program. Yes, there needs to be more improvements, and healthcare is not affordable enough, but under this plan, we’ve helped to cover more Americans, and under Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress. They will stiff you and make you, unable to afford Life and death decisions around your health.
April Ryan
We can’t have that. Congressman, thank you so much. Thank you for sipping tea with me. You knocked the pot over. It spilled all over the floor, and it was good. Thank you, Congressman, and please come back again and tell us more about what’s happening, because this is important. This is a time that we need to know what our government is doing for us. for the people. for the people, we the people, who are still forming a more perfect union. Thank you so much, Congressman Royster.
Rep. Steven Horsford
Have a great day.
