WASHINGTON — On Day 16 of the Democrat Shutdown, Speaker Johnson held a press conference alongside House GOP Leadership and Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino to highlight the contrast between House Republicans doing constituent work in their districts while Democrats pull stunts and engage in political theatrics as they keep the government closed.
“Amid all that, Chuck Schumer is actually bragging that every day gets better for his party. As you know, those are his words, not ours,” Speaker Johnson said. “All this would be laughable if it didn’t come at the cost of American families. And it really is deadly serious. If it were up to Republicans alone, we would not be in this mess.”
Watch Speaker Johnson’s full remarks here.
On Republicans delivering in their districts while Democrats pull stunts:
House Republicans made the responsible decision for our Members to spend this week in their districts working for the people. They’re helping their constituents. They’re helping the American people navigate the mess that the Democrats have created. Staying back to work with our constituents was a decision that we made very thoughtfully, and we made collectively as a group, House Republicans. We have so much of that work to do. That’s not some talking point. It’s not some strategic tactic. We made that decision out of urgent necessity. So, I want to highlight here this morning, just very briefly, a couple of examples of a small sample of some of the very important work that House Republicans are doing on the ground right now to help Americans through this difficult time.
In the state of Michigan, for example, our members are sitting down with veterans, men and women who risked their lives for our country. And they’re struggling now because the services they depend on, health services, for example, have come to a halt thanks to the Schumer shutdown. So, in Michigan, our Republicans from the House are there working through those situations.
In Texas, many of our Republican colleagues have met with some of our brave Border Patrol agents down on that southern border who are still reporting for duty without a paycheck.
In Montana, Congressman Ryan Zinke helped park rangers who are keeping the parks open as best they can for families and travelers, even as they themselves go without a paycheck.
Across the Midwest, we have members who are meeting with local and regional airports to hear firsthand how furloughs and blocked paychecks there are hurting the people who keep our skies safe. Really important stuff.
And in rural communities around the country, Republicans are working hand in hand with their local hospitals to make sure that the $50 billion rural hospital fund that Republicans got signed into law on July 4 is accessed. It reaches the people who need it, and they’re doing that work while the Democrats are demanding to kill that essential fund – that is in their counterproposal for the CR; one of the many outrageous things they’ve claimed they want to do.
And everywhere across America right now, we’re helping small business owners and farmers and ranchers and service coordinators navigate frozen loans and delayed emergency funds amid growing uncertainty about how to keep serving their communities.
All across the country, Republicans are dealing with the very real and painful consequences facing real Americans. Now that’s happening on the Republican side and what’s happening on the Democrat side, you can see it for yourself. Compare what I just told you with what they’re doing. Look at their own behavior. Look at their actions. Don’t listen to the words that people are saying. Look at what they’re doing. Chuck Schumer and Democrats over the last 10 days, here’s a small sample of their activity, okay? We’ve seen performative stunts and TikToks and photo shoots across every inch of this Capitol. We’ve seen Democrats actually toast themselves on the balcony of the DCCC last night while their colleagues voted in the Senate to keep the government closed for the 10th time. We’ve seen not one, but two failed publicity stunts right outside my own office, the latest of which ended in a congresswoman storming the entrance and berating a capitol police officer, who, by the way, is protecting her without pay.
And last night, we even saw, I didn’t see it, many of you saw it, CNN host the first socialist town hall, where Bernie Sanders and AOC said the quiet parts out loud. They don’t know what they want to end the shutdown. They couldn’t provide a single viable solution for the mess that they themselves have gleefully created. And by the way, those are the real leaders of the Democrat party. We all know it. AOC and Bernie. Good luck with that. And amid all that, Chuck Schumer is actually bragging that every day gets better for his party. As you know, those are his words, not ours. All this would be laughable if it didn’t come at the cost of American families. And it really is deadly serious. If it were up to Republicans alone, we would not be in this mess.
On Democrats not caring about the pain the shutdown has caused:
If you’re keeping count, nine times now, nine times, the Senate Democrats have voted to keep the government closed. All the House Democrats except one voted September 19 to shut it down. So, this is 10 total times now that Democrats in Congress have voted to close the government. And we know what that means for real people. We know what it means for our troops and our Border Patrol agents, and TSA agents and air traffic controllers, and everybody who relies upon services around the country. It’s very real.
And so today marks yet another day of American families feeling the very real personal and economic strain of this reckless decision that our Democrat colleagues keep making. They want the United States government to remain closed, and they seem not to care about the pain that it’s causing. They have offered no plan. They have offered no strategy. They have offered no commonsense path forward for ending this situation. And so many of you have asked all of us, how will it end? We have no idea. It’s up to the Democrats and they have to decide it. And judging by their outrageous behavior, the Democrats appear perfectly happy to keep the political theater going while real people suffer.
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