WASHINGTON — After House Republicans overwhelmingly voted to end the partial government shutdown, Speaker Johnson delivered remarks to reporters off the House floor.
“For some reason, many of the House Democrats wanted to shut the government down again and inflict pain on the American people,” Speaker Johnson said. “But I’m glad to tell you and I’m happy to report, Republicans got the job done. Our majority worked together, and we got the bills over the line.”
Watch Speaker Johnson’s full remarks here.
Below are Speaker Johnson’s remarks as delivered:
We just had an important and historic vote on the House floor, a series of votes today, in fact, and we delivered for the American people. For some reason, many of the House Democrats wanted to shut the government down again and inflict pain on the American people. But I’m glad to tell you and I’m happy to report, Republicans got the job done. Our majority worked together, and we got the bills over the line.
So, we’ve now funded 11 of the 12 separate appropriations funding bills for the government for the year. And that’s a big achievement because it’s a big move towards regular order. This is something we promised and committed to. The biggest move towards that in many, many years.
Now, the President and the White House have engaged in good faith with Democrats in the Senate, and they’ve said they would negotiate on the final bill, the Homeland bill.
And you might say, well, now that 96% of the government is funded, it’s just 4% what’s out there. But it’s a very important 4% because remember what the Homeland Security bill covers.
It’s not just Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It’s not just Customs and Border Patrol. It is TSA, it’s the agents who keep us safe in the airports and keep air travel moving. It’s the Coast Guard. It’s Secret Service. It’s FEMA. We’re in the middle of winter storms that people are still digging out from. This is no time to jeopardize that funding.
We hope that they will operate in good faith over the next 10 days. As we negotiate this, the President, again, has reached out. We are restoring calm in Minnesota. But again, we make the plea and the demand that the governors and the mayors in these blue states and blue cities participate with federal law enforcement so that we have a safer environment in which to implement and to enforce federal immigration laws.
It’s very, very important. And it’s something the American people demand and deserve. So, we’ll go forward now. We hope that everyone is in good faith. We think the next two weeks will be critical, but I hope that they will not keep that funding in suspense because it’s too important to the American people.
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