Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) condemned the Democratic members of the House and Senate that voted “to shut the government down to try to make some sort of aimless political point.”
Johnson is fresh from successful votes from both chambers of Congress to fund the government and avoid a government shutdown through September 30. In the House, the measure passed with a 217-213 vote. Republican Thomas Massey (R-KY) voted against and lone Democrat Jared Golden (D-ME) voting in favor. Then, in the Senate, 10 Democratic senators voted for the bill.
“We put the Democrats on record for just raw partisan politics. Think of it: 99% of the Democrats in Congress, both the House and the Senate, voted to shut the government down to try to make some sort of aimless political point. It is shameless. They are using the American people as pawns,” Johnson said on Fox News’s Life, Liberty and Levin Saturday. “They have shown, as they did with this vote on the resolution to fund the government, they seem to hate President Trump more than they love America. So the responsibility of governing the country falls to Republicans, and we are going to do that. We are going to fulfill that mission.”
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Next on Johnson’s agenda is the reconciliation process behind President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” to fund his campaign promises, such as increased border security and investments into American energy. The speaker said he anticipates “zero Democrats’ help with this” and is likely to have a bill ready for Trump to sign in early May.
While Johnson is optimistic about the timing of his next big legislation on funding, this last CR passed hours before the deadline on Friday after weeks of Johnson assuring it would be finished early.