Republicans, Democrats spar over shutdown, as workers face layoffs and missed paychecks
House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are locked in a war of words over who is to blame for the government shutdown as it enters its 12th day.
Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, accuses Democrats of using health care as a political smokescreen to deflect blame for the impasse.
“They’re trying their best to distract the American people from the simple fact that they’ve chosen a partisan fight so that they can prove to their Marxist rising base in the Democrat party that they’re willing to fight Trump and Republicans,” Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Mr. Johnson urged Democrats to support a “clean” continuing resolution that would reopen the government and give lawmakers over a month to negotiate health care policy. He argued that Democrats are obstructing progress by repeatedly voting against the measure, leaving
Mr. Jeffries, New York Democrat, sees it differently. He contends that Democrats are taking a principled stand to confront soaring health care costs — an issue he says Republicans have consistently ignored.
“My friends on the other side of the aisle, they seem to believe that health care is an extraneous issue. We don’t believe it’s an extraneous issue. It’s a central issue,” Mr. Jeffries said on “Fox News Sunday.” “This is the wealthiest country in the history of the world, and people throughout this country should be able to afford to go see a doctor when they need one for themselves, their family, their children.”
Mr. Jeffries criticized Republicans for supporting the cuts to future Medicaid spending included in President Trump’s signature “big, beautiful bill” and their refusal to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year.
He emphasized that Democrats are willing to strike a bipartisan deal — one that reopens the government and tackles what he called a “health care crisis that threatens tens of millions of people across the country.”
Mr. Jeffries stressed that the most significant health care challenges are in red states and rural parts of the nation that backed Mr. Trump in the 2024 election.
He also pointed out that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, has said she is “disgusted” that health care premiums are expected to double if the tax credits expire at the end of the year.
Mr. Johnson said he recently had a “thoughtful conversation” with Ms. Greene about how Republicans have “hundreds of ideas” on how to fix the broken health care system.
Meanwhile, the shutdown’s impact continues to ripple across the country.
About 600,000 federal employees have been furloughed, and the Trump administration has issued layoff notices to more than 4,000 workers across seven federal departments.
There are no additional votes scheduled until Tuesday, fueling speculation that members of the military could miss paychecks expected to go out on Wednesday.
However, Mr. Trump says he is making sure that members of the active duty military will get paid.
“I will not allow the Democrats to hold our Military, and the entire Security of our Nation, HOSTAGE, with their dangerous Government Shutdown,” Mr. Trump posted over the weekend on social media.
