Summary
- House
Speaker Mike Johnson blamed the shutdown on Chuck Schumer. - Johnson
linked Schumer’s stance to fears of NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. - Johnson
claims the House passed a “clean” funding bill; Senate Democrats
blocked it.
As the government shutdown approached the week-long
milestone, Johnson and other Republican leaders addressed reporters for the
third day in a row. Johnson ran off a string of stories from different states
with Democratic senators concerning the closure of national parks, the
increased usage of food banks, and the many difficulties faced by airlines.
“I could do this all day,”
Johnson told reporters.
“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 told reporters.
“The Marxists are about to
elect a mayor in New York City. That’s Chuck Schumer state. He’s terrified that
he’s going to get a challenge from his far left.”
Mamdani has been harshly critical of the Israeli
government’s response to the October 7 attack, but Schumer, a Jewish and ardent
supporter of Israel, has not yet endorsed him.
In March, Schumer also came
under fire for joining Republicans in passing a continuing resolution, a
stopgap budget package that was passed by the Republican-controlled House with
little to no Democratic participation.
“So they picked a fight on something that’s not even related
at all to the shutdown and the funding that we should have gotten done by the
end of September,”
Johnson said at his press conference.
“We just need a stop
gap measure to give us a little more time to get the job of Congress done.”
But this time around, Democrats have largely united to
oppose a continuing resolution that would keep the government open in hopes
that they can get Republicans to extend Covid-era enhanced tax credits for the
Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces.
Notices have been delivered by numerous state-run exchanges
stating that if the extensions are not renewed, rates will quadruple.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a fellow Republican,
also blasted Johnson and the other members of the House Republican leadership
for failing to come up with a proposal to prolong the tax credits, stating that
she is “absolutely disgusted” that rates will increase.
Furthermore, despite President Donald Trump signing
legislation in 2019 to guarantee back pay for federal workers who are
furloughed, several Republicans are concerned that they won’t get it.
“Federal workers, it’s my understanding that the law is that
they would be paid and that’s my position,”
he said.
“They should not be
subjected to harm and financial dire straits because Chuck Schumer wants to
play political games.”
How did Schumer publicly respond to Johnson’s accusation?
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer publicly pushed back on
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s allegations, blaming him and Republican House
members for the government shutdown. He noted on MSNBC’s “Morning
Joe” and “Face the Nation” on CBS that Republicans have the
presidency, Senate, and House, placing them at fault for the government shut
down.
Schumer went on to question Johnson’s judgment in sending
the House home for two weeks while negotiating to make it more challenging to
come to some sort of resolution.
Lastly, Schumer also denied and countered Johnson’s claims
regarding Democrats supporting healthcare benefits for undocumented immigrants,
dubbing those claims “fake lies” while explaining that there are no
federal funds that would go to undocumented immigrants with regard to health
benefits under Medicare, Medicaid or the ACA.
