House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) highlighted on the 34th day of the shutdown, now the second longest in U.S. history, that Democrats are misleading Americans, claiming it takes time to sift through truth and fiction.
“We are now 34 days into the Democratic shutdown,” Johnson pointed out, emphasizing its historical significance. Earlier, he addressed the media, stating that there’s an “incredible amount of gaslighting and misinformation” coming from the Democratic Party.
“This morning, we thought it might be useful to clarify some facts versus fiction. So, let’s tackle four false claims that you’ve probably heard repeatedly and reset the record on the truth,” he said, beginning with the first point.
1. Republicans didn’t initiate the shutdown; that was the Democratic Party.
“Democrats falsely claim that Republicans are responsible for the shutdown. They’ve said it in interviews and rhetoric. Blaming Republicans is just absurd,” he stated.
The Republicans have indeed voted multiple times to reopen the government.
“Remember how this transpired? Back in September 2019, House Republicans voted for a clean continuing resolution to keep everything running. Almost every Democrat in the House voted to close the government, yet they passed it because they had the majority. Then, they sent that bill to the Senate,” he explained. “Furthermore, 13 times, Democrats voted to shut the government down.”
RELATED: The Democratic shutdown hypocrisy is glaringly obvious.
“Republicans were supportive each time we sought to open things up,” he noted.
“In both the Senate and House, Republicans worked to ensure military personnel, Border Patrol agents, TSA, air traffic controllers, and federal employees were taken care of. They fought to keep programs like Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition, as well as ensuring SNAP benefits would continue for families in need. On the flip side, Democrats opposed every effort,” he said.
2. Democrats presented unreasonable demands.
The Democrats dismissed a clean resolution while insisting on billions in partisan spending.
“Besides rejecting the clean CR and refusing to reopen the government, Democrats had the nerve to make new demands. They sought $1.5 trillion in new spending obligations for a simple funding resolution they filed back in September, which is still a counterproposal,” he remarked, adding that this spending plan includes $200 billion for “restoring free health care benefits for unauthorized immigrants.”
“They want to funnel funds into leftist-driven expenses abroad, like LGBTQ+ initiatives in the Horn of Africa,” he indicated. “There’s a lot more I could mention, but previously we said they plan to allocate $500 million to support leftist media outlets while simultaneously cutting $50 billion from local hospital funding as a condition for reopening the government,” he added.
3. Democrats claim they’re fighting for health care; that’s misleading.
“You’ve heard this claim a lot. Let’s be clear: Democrats are the architects of Obamacare, which they passed without any Republican support. They are the ones increasing costs for American taxpayers and for policyholders,” Johnson said, affirming that it was policy from the Democratic Party that led to these issues.
In short, it was their policy that caused this situation.
“Democrats aren’t about reforming Obamacare; they want to subsidize it. They intend to allocate more taxpayer money, most of which ends up benefiting insurance companies, further raising costs,” he asserted.
4. Republicans aren’t to blame for the hardships, counter to Democratic claims.
Johnson dismissed this assertion as “nonsense,” stating the situation is “very clear—it boils down to math.”
“Republicans need a minimum of seven Democrats to agree with them. With only 53 Republicans in the Senate, reaching the required 60 votes to reopen the government is challenging. The House has done everything it needs to on this front. Since September 19th, we’re waiting on the Senate to act. Leader John Thune and the Republican Party have been doing all they can,” he said, reminding everyone that Democrats “openly admit they are exploiting the American people” in this political game.
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