Democrats Are Putting Shutdown Politics Ahead of Essential Federal Workers, Johnson Says

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday denounced Democrats for what he called putting politics ahead of the well-being of essential federal employees, who are working without pay.

The speaker noted at a press conference that Democrat members of Congress are still getting paid this month, while “the men and women of the U.S. Capitol Police who are protecting them will not.”

The federal government has been in a state of shutdown since Oct. 1 after most Senate Democrats refused to support a short-term Republican continuing resolution that had passed the House and gained minimal bipartisan support in the Senate. 

“There is one sad and inescapable fact that no one can forget here: This shutdown is nothing more than political cover for Chuck Schumer and the Democrats,” Johnson continued, referring to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Essential federal employees, including members of the military, are continuing to work this week without compensation, though they will be paid retroactively after the shutdown ends. Meanwhile, thousands of other federal workers are currently furloughed without pay. 

Johnson reiterated his point from yesterday’s news conference that Schumer was politically posturing to help himself against a potential future party primary challenge from the far Left. 

“They [Democrats] are worried about the Marxist flank in their Democrat Party. The Marxists are about to elect a mayor in New York City,” the speaker said.

When asked whether the mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois should be in prison, as President Donald Trump asserted on social media, Johnson noted that he was not the official tasked with enforcing the law.

“I’m not the attorney general. I’m the speaker of the House, and I’m trying to manage the chaos here. I’m not following the day-to-day on that,” Johnson said.

“I do know that they’ve resisted the introduction for the offering of National Guard troops in Chicago, which is a terribly dangerous city and has been destroyed under, in the process of being destroyed, under liberal, Democrat governance, under terrible policies,” the speaker noted.

Johnson raised the issue of basic public safety when it comes to living in American cities.

“If you’re a resident of Chicago or New Orleans, or one of these other Democrat-run cities, you’ve had enough. You’re tired of your family being walking in fear and not being able to enjoy their lives,” the speaker said. 

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, highlighted the fact that a majority of the Senate already supports the continuing resolution passed in the House, and it remains up to a few Senate Democrats to push the bill over the 60-vote filibuster-proof threshold. 

“[T]he bulk of [Schumer’s] caucus is simply shutting down the government over items unrelated to what we normally do in appropriations,” the Oklahoma congressman contended, adding, “We should not be handling Medicaid on my committee. We should not be handling the Obamacare subsidies, simply because we don’t have the expertise or the jurisdiction to do either one of those things.” 

Johnson emphasized that House Republicans did not support changing the law to prohibit illegal aliens from being treated in emergency rooms under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). 

Johnson contended that Schumer “literally wants to reimburse hospitals more money for treating illegal aliens than American citizens.” Republicans have previously noted Democrat support for granting noncitizens government benefits in Schumer’s proposed alternative funding bill.

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