House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) does not have any intention of debating House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on the House floor as the government heads into its sixth day of a shutdown with no end in sight.
Jeffries sent a letter to Johnson on Monday, asking the speaker to debate “any day this week in prime time, broadcast live to the American people,” about the government shutdown. Jeffries said Johnson should “explain your my way or highway approach to shutting the government down, when Democratic votes are needed to resolve the impasse that exists.”
But the speaker shrugged off the debate challenge during a press conference on Monday, calling it “desperate pleas for attention.”
“My friend Hakeem had his shot. We debated all of this on the House floor, as you know, before we passed our bill,” Johnson told reporters. “He spoke for seven or eight minutes, he had all of his colleagues lined up, they gave it their best shot, and they argued, and they stomped their feet and screamed at us and all that.”
“And still, we passed the bill in a bipartisan fashion. … I’m not going to let Hakeem try to pretend with these theatrics,” the speaker added. “We don’t need to waste time on that nonsense. Those debates have been had. Hakeem is a friend and a colleague, and I respect him, but we all know what he’s trying to do here.”
The government shut down on Oct. 1 after Congress failed to pass a spending deal before the Sept. 30 deadline. Both parties are on the offense as they seek to blame the other for the closure of federal agencies, buildings, and programs.
Republicans are continuing to press that Democrats own the shutdown, arguing that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is relying heavily on a “red herring” argument that there must be negotiations now to extend the Obamacare subsidies that expire at the end of the year.
The GOP is in a sticky situation regarding healthcare, with leadership acknowledging on recent calls to members that the policy area is not the party’s strong suit in terms of messaging.
Johnson and other House GOP leaders have repeatedly said the expiring tax credits are a “December policy issue,” not a September, and now October, spending issue. The speaker said Monday that there have been “thoughtful” discussions on how to address the enhanced subsidies.
“We have lots of ideas on the table on how to fix it, but we don’t yet have consensus on it, because it’s very complicated,” Johnson said.
Many Republican committee leaders and fiscal hawks have poured cold water on extending the tax credits. Several advocated letting the COVID-19-era provision expire without any renewal, while centrist GOP lawmakers have pushed leadership to take action sooner rather than later.
The Medicaid reforms in the Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” are the focus of Democrats’ counterproposal for a short-term continuing resolution, which would keep the government open until Oct. 31 but has failed numerous times on the Senate floor. The party has insisted that with open enrollment beginning Nov. 1, and some notices beginning to go out later this month, Congress needs to address the issue now.
Johnson disagrees.
MIKE JOHNSON KEEPS THE HOUSE IN RECESS TO KEEP PRESSURE ON THE UPPER CHAMBER
“The last I checked, it’s Oct. 6. We have the entire month of October,” the speaker said. “We’ll stay here around the clock to work through all these things, but we have to get the government opened again to do it. Again, they’re trying to obscure the issue.”
The House GOP’s CR, which punts the funding deadline to Nov. 21 and has also failed four times in the Senate, is set for another vote at 5:30 p.m. Monday.
