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Elmo certainly has friends.
Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.), the leader of the minority, brought a stuffed friend with him to help make a claim on the floor of the house on Thursday.
Jeffries raised the stuffed Elmo doll, accusing Republicans of targeting beloved children’s shows like “Sesame Street” with pushes to cut federal spending.
“Today, we’re on the House floor discussing laws targeting Elmo and Big Birds, and “Sesame Street” with Daniel Tiger, Jeffries said.
Trump sends $9.4 billion Doge Cuts proposal to Congress targeting NPR, PBS
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., holds a stuffed Elmo doll while talking on the floor of the U.S. Capitol home in Washington on Thursday, June 12, 2025. (Pool)
The widely distributed online moment came during a debate that proposed withdrawing Republican-backed budget resources from President Trump.
Among the eligible programs are taxpayers’ $3 million in support of the international version of Sesame Street in Iraq.
Democrats opposed what they characterized as cultural and humanitarian vandalism that disguised financial responsibility. D-Calif. Sidney Kamlager Dove of the day delivered one of the sharpest lines.
Republicans dismissed the play and defended the package as a common-sense rollback of bloated ideological spending. The bill also includes wider cuts for public broadcasting, for public broadcasting, supporting PBS and NPR, supporting long-standing goals of fiscal conservatives who argue that taxpayers should not subsidize public media.
R-Mich. Rep. Lisa McClain retorted, “I didn’t realize that Elmo was more important to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle than Americans.”
R-La. House majority leader Steve Scalise said, “The minority leader kept Sesame Street characters on the floor as if Sesame Street somehow left,” Scalise said.
Sesame Street Pride Month ignites backlash from Republican lawmakers amid threats of PBS funding
R-La. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise responds to Jeffries’ remarks on the House floor of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Thursday, June 12, 2025. Scalise defended the $9.4 billion retirement bill, rejecting the claims to eliminate Sesame Street, and discussed programs that challenge private operations. (Pool)
“Yesterday I was watching a commercial on TV where Cookie Monster was actually advertising for Netflix because private companies are paying to run Sesame Street.
Scalise called for what was called “Far-Left Radical Views” through outlets such as NPR and PBS, rather than threatening the survival of Sesame Street.
“There’s still a lot of options for Americans,” he said. “But if they’re paying hard-earned dollars to get content, why should your taxes go only to what the other side wants to advertise?”
He said frankly: “They can still see Sesame Street in Iraq. But let the Iraqi people pay it – not the taxpayers of the United States of America.”
Rep. Sidney Kamlager Dove of D-Calif will make his remarks during a House debate over the GOP Resignation Bill at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Thursday, June 12, 2025. (Pool)
What further raised the eyebrows was to include taxpayer-funded global health spending for procedures such as circumcision.
Among the line items flagged by GOP lawmakers, $3 million to subsidize Zambia circumcision, vascular removal and condoms along with similar grants for Nepal’s transgender surgery. Republicans argued that pulling back these types of low-impact or ideological slash funds is a logical first step towards returning more than $9 billion to the US Treasury.
The bill passed the House Approvals Committee earlier this week, signaling strong opposition by Senate Democrats.
The bill passed the House of Representatives with 214-212 votes. Four Republicans, rep, Mark Amody, r-nev. Mike Turner, R-Ohio; Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA. Nicole Mariotakis (RN.Y.) broke the rank to vote for the bill. All Democrats voted no.
Elmo still has no words. But as the council is in session, the puppet show continues.
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House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Jasmine is a writer for Fox News Digital and is a New Orleans-based military spouse. Stories can be sent to jasmine.baehr@fox.com
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