House speaker urges Democrats to end shutdown, calls it 'most costly political stunt' in US history
'It is the most costly, most selfish, most dangerous political stunt in the history of the United States Congress,' says Mike Johnson, while Democrats say they are defending affordable health care
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Mike Johnson
WASHINGTON
US House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday criticized Senate Democrats, calling on them to end what he described as the longest full government shutdown in US history.
"Since the Democrats recklessly shut down the United States government, the Democrats are making some very costly history here. Don't lose that in all that's happening. This is now the third-longest shutdown in history," Johnson told reporters on day 20 of the shutdown.
While shutdowns in 1995 and 2018 lasted longer, Johnson noted those were partial shutdowns that only affected certain government departments. In contrast, he said the current standoff has left nearly all federal operations unfunded, with wide-reaching consequences.
"This is everything. And it's also important for us to note this is the first time in history that any party has had the audacity to shut down the government over a totally clean, nonpartisan continuing resolution,” he said, referring to a bill to continue funding the government.
"This is a political stunt, and it's the first time it's been done. It is the most costly, most selfish, most dangerous political stunt in the history of the United States Congress," he said.
Democrats dispute Johnson’s claim of a “clean” bill to restart the government. In rejecting the resolution bill, they cite Republicans’ refusal to restore health care subsidies to avoid millions of Americans facing sky-high insurance costs or having to give up their coverage.
This March Democrats voted on a previous continuing resolution, but warned that if the health care subsidies were not extended, they would not do so again this fall. In the months that followed, they say, Republicans would not agree to even discuss the vital health care subsidies.
The Senate is set to reconvene Monday to hold an 11th vote on whether to advance a House-passed bill aimed at funding the government and ending the current shutdown.
The current measure has failed to reach the 60-vote threshold in each attempt so far, with no indication that the outcome will be different this time.
