House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed optimism that Congress will move swiftly to end the partial government shutdown, saying he is confident lawmakers can have the federal government largely reopened by Tuesday.
As reported by Breitbart, Johnson appeared on NBCs Meet the Press and faced pointed questions from host Kristen Welker about whether he could marshal enough Republican votes to restart government operations without Democrat backing. Welker pressed the Speaker on the state of negotiations, noting that we are in the midst of a partial government shutdown and that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had made it clear that you dont have Democrat support to reopen the government.
Welker asked bluntly, Are you confident that the government will reopen on Monday with Republican votes? Do you have enough Republican support? Johnson, who has repeatedly emphasized a return to regular order and conservative fiscal discipline, acknowledged the political and logistical hurdles but maintained that Republicans are prepared to shoulder the responsibility.
Well, lets say Im confident that well do it at least by Tuesday, Johnson replied, pointing to the practical challenge of summoning lawmakers back to Washington on short notice. We have a logistical challenge of getting everyone in town. And because of the conversation I had with Hakeem Jeffries, I know that weve got to pass a rule and probably do this mostly on our own. I think thats very unfortunate.
Johnson argued that Republicans have been working in good faith to avoid prolonged disruption, while Democrats have used shutdown brinkmanship as a political weapon. Heres whats happened. You know, the House and Senate appropriators worked very well together, a bicameral, bipartisan, committee-led process, especially after the 43-day shutdown. The longest in U.S. history last fall. No one wanted to put that pain on the American people. Again. The Democrats forced it. We were insistent that we would not allow that to happen.
The Speaker praised the appropriators who labored to assemble a funding package that respects the committee process and moves away from massive omnibus bills that empower Washington insiders over taxpayers. But, you know, I tip my hat to everybodyappropriators of both parties who got this together after the Senate acted over the weekend. We will now have 11 of 12 separate appropriations bills approved by both chambers. Thats because they modified our package; theyve sent it over a little differently, which means weve got to address the bills again.
Johnson underscored that the remaining point of contention centers on the Department of Homeland Security, a flashpoint in the broader debate over border security and the Biden administrations lax enforcement policies. So theyre going to separate the Department of Homeland Security bill. Our intention is by Tuesday to fund all agencies, the federal government, except for that one. And then well have two weeks of good faith negotiations to figure it out.
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