Johnson: Dems Handed Trump ‘Keys to the Kingdom’ in Shutdown

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson put the blame for any shutdown cuts on the Democratic Party Thursday, as he backed up President Donald Trump’s talk of slashing unwanted programs.

“This is the way the system works. This is [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer’s decision, is to hand … the keys to the kingdom, to the president. He has put himself in that situation, and it’s completely unnecessary. The president takes no pleasure in this,” said Johnson, R-La.

The federal government has entered its second day of its partial shutdown, as Democrats have refused to provide the votes necessary to consider a seven-week stopgap funding bill.

Johnson’s remarks followed Trump’s morning Truth Social post, in which he wrote, “I have a meeting today with [Office of Management and Budget director] Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.”

Trump added, “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Vought has already frozen billions of dollars in funding for New York City subway infrastructure projects, and, under his direction, federal agencies are carrying out their contingency plans, which include delaying payments to employees and targeting spending that is not aligned with the White House’s policy priorities.

In Johnson’s view, the White House’s budget chief Russell Vought carries out his program with no joy.

“As you know, whomever is seated in the chair at OMB during the shutdown has to do the same thing,” said Johnson. “We had a 45-minute telephone conference with [Vought] yesterday. He talked to all the House Republicans. He takes no pleasure in this … because Russ has to sit down and decide, because he’s in charge of that office, which policies, personnel and which programs are essential, and which are not. That is not a fun task, and he is not enjoying that responsibility.“

However, Johnson argued it’s Vought’s prerogative to determine which programs they want to keep.

“Now, when he sits down as the director of OMB, he will obviously have a subjective determination on the priorities,” said Johnson. “And what do you think he would do? Because what would any OMB director do under any president? They’re going to look to see for the administration’s priorities first and ensure that those are funded.”

Johnson continued to say that Democrats could end the process as soon as they provide the votes necessary for the stopgap funding bill to pass.

“It could end today if the Senate Democrats would come to their senses and do the right thing for the American people. But if they don’t, and if they keep the government closed, it’s going to get more and more painful, because the resources run out, and more and more things have to be reduced and eliminated.”

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