Democrats are not focused on impeaching Trump ‘at this time’

House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday that Democrats are not focused on impeaching President Donald Trump if they regain a majority in Congress, at least “for now.”

Jeffries told CNBC’s Emily Wilkins at the CNBC CEO Council Summit in Washington that Democrats will continue to pursue housing affordability as they aim to flip the House in the November midterm elections. Jeffries said the Trump administration is “completely and completely out of control,” but declined to comment on the prospect of starting impeachment proceedings next year.

“We’re not ruling anything out, we’re not ruling anything out,” the New York Democrat said.

Trump, who was impeached twice during his first term, has repeatedly warned that he would be impeached if Democrats retake the House. But for Democrats, impeachment could be a futile move unless they can secure a healthy majority in the Senate, where Republicans are expected to maintain a narrow margin.

Instead, Democrats have spoken extensively about curbing what they see as corruption within the Trump administration, a sign that Republicans are “not focused on actually solving problems for the American people,” Jeffries said.

“I think it’s fair to say that a lot of the focus from an accountability perspective is going to be on having a type of government that’s actually focused on improving the quality of life for the American people, rather than the self-serving policies that we’re seeing right now,” Jeffries said.

Jeffries expressed confidence in the midterm elections, citing a string of special election wins over the past year and a half. He said the Democratic House majority would prioritize rooting out corruption in all branches of government, including potentially banning members of Congress from trading stocks and introducing internal regulations that would prohibit members and staff from betting on prediction markets. Senators had already banned participation in prediction markets in April.

“The House would do the same thing,” Jeffries said of banning prediction markets. “The House should also ban members from trading stocks, and we have made that clear as part of our fight against corruption.”