With an epic rhetorical flourish, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) blasted the Democrats for a 29-day shutdown, rejecting 14 clean continuing resolutions (CRs) that would fund the troops, SNAP, WIC, TSA, air traffic controllers, and nuclear defense workers.
Supporting his argument, he noted that a recent poll found that 70%+ of the public feels that Democrats are out of touch and stated that major unions, such as the AFGE and Teamsters, are urging Democrats to reopen government. Additionally, he slammed the SNAP-only lawsuit a “scam” to prolong pain for political leverage against the “far left.”
Starting his comments, the speaker of the House noted that it was “Day 29 of the Democrats’ shutdown, and things are getting really tough for the American people.” Building on this point, Johnson noted that “more air traffic controllers, TSA agents, and park rangers are about to go without a paycheck.”
Continuing to blast the Democrats, the Speaker described the consequences of their selfishness. “You’ve got families and children that rely upon SNAP benefits that are going to go hungry here at the end of the week…the Democrats own every one of these consequences.”
Still not done, he described how normal Americans have become a political pawn for the Democrats. “Every day, they turn their backs on more and more hard-working American families to prolong their pain …they’ve now voted 14 times between the House and Senate to reject the clean, simple funding bill that would simply reopen the government. Fourteen times they have thumbed their nose at the American people,” Johnson declared.
Blasting the opposition, he referenced the CNN poll that found Republicans are taking off in popularity as Democrats crumble, and added, “Democrats are openly admitting that this is their shutdown. […] the approval of Republicans in Congress is rising … Democrats in Congress have the lowest approval rating they have ever had…you need 218 votes… That’s exactly what we did on September 19.” Adding, “the Democrats are the only reason that the government is closed…they’re using the pain of the American people as their leverage.”
Providing more support for his thesis, he noted how even unions have urged the Democrats to stand down. The speaker of the House said, “The largest union of federal workers, the American Federation of Government Employees …publicly urged Democrats to join Republicans and pass the House’s short-term funding bill.”
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Continuing to hammer the Democrats, the Louisiana representative kept going. ” A strong America requires a functioning government, one that pays its bills…the National Association of Air Traffic Controllers… the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations… the leader of the Teamsters, all called on Senate Democrats to end this shameful shutdown,” Johnson noted.
Wrapping up, he stated, “Senate Democrats knew the pain this would cause. […] they did not care. They shut the government down anyway to appease the far left. On Saturday, SNAP benefits will stop flowing, and 10s of millions of Americans will be at risk of going hungry.”
Watch the clip here:
Concluding his comments, the principal conservative said, “Democrat attorneys general are suing to try to compel SNAP benefits despite the government being closed. There’s a much easier option. Just go do your job and fully fund all these programs by voting for the CR.”
Featured image from embedded video