Johnson Calls on Democrats to ‘Do the Right Thing’ on Shutdown

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, at a press conference on Tuesday, decried Senate Democrats’ refusal to vote to end the government shutdown.

“We only have 53 Republicans, and so we have to have a handful of Democrats who will wake up and do the right thing and stop inflicting pain on the American people so that they can score political points,” Johnson, R-La., said.

The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1 after Senate Democrats blocked the passage of a continuing resolution that passed the Republican-controlled House and is supported by most Senate Republicans and the president.

As a result, thousands of federal employees have been furloughed and essential federal personnel such as members of the military have been forced to work without pay until a continuing resolution is passed. 

Johnson pointed out what he regards as the hypocrisy of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who had previously voted in March to fund the government with a continuing resolution.

“While the CR bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse,” Johnson said, quoting the Senate Democrat leader’s remarks in March in favor of a funding bill that kept the government open.

Johnson attributed Schumer’s change of heart to the need to appease his liberal political base.

“[Schumer] is recognizing the reality of the political winds changing in the state of New York. As I mentioned yesterday, they are likely to elect a Marxist to be the mayor of New York City, and Chuck Schumer is terrified by that,” the Louisiana Republican said.

“He’s not far enough left for the Marxists, and he knows he’s going to get a challenge from his left wing, so he has to show a fight against President Trump. No matter how ridiculous it is, no matter how distracting it may be to the actual issues of the day,” he added. 

Johnson noted that Democrats have struggled to win the approval of the public since their defeat in last year’s election. He affirmed support for giving federal workers currently furloughed their back pay once the shutdown is over.

“I hope that the furloughed workers receive back pay. Of course, we have some extraordinary Americans who serve the federal government. They serve valiantly, and they work hard. And they serve in these various agencies doing really important work,” Johnson said, adding that President Donald Trump agreed with him.

“[The president] doesn’t want people to go without pay, and that’s why he pleaded with Chuck Schumer to do the right thing and vote to keep the government open. We don’t want this to happen,” the speaker said. 

When pressed about why he had voted against continuing resolutions in the past, but supported one this time, Johnson cited the changing political environment. He emphasized that Republicans had, in his view, avoided including political nonstarters for Democrats in the current proposed CR. 

“I could have put some of our priorities, or ‘poison pills,’ or things that Democrats have done in the past to us. We didn’t, and that’s why there’s nothing to negotiate right now,” he explained.

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