Speaker Johnson: Reasonable Senate Democrats Must End the Shutdown Pain and Vote to Reopen the Government

WASHINGTON - This evening, after Senate Democrats rejected the clean, short-term, nonpartisan continuing resolution to fund the government for the sixth time, Speaker Johnson joined The Lead on CNN, Balance of Power on Bloomberg TV, and Hannity on Fox News to discuss the government shutdown's harmful effects on everyday Americans. Speaker Johnson also addressed Israel and Hamas agreeing to the first phase of President Trump's historic peace plan.

Watch Speaker Johnson on CNN, on Bloomberg TV, and on Fox News.

On the harmful effects of the Democrat shutdown:

On October 15, troops begin to lose a real paycheck. And you've got TSA agents and border patrol agents and all these people sacrificing their own safety to protect everyone else, and they won't be paid. You've got nutrition programs and health services and FEMA services, and all sorts of other things stalled. And half the civilian workforce of the federal government is now furloughed. This is dangerous stuff. Real people are being hurt. Air traffic controllers are falling back on the jobs because they don't have enough personnel. This is serious stuff. And we need the Democrats to come to their senses and do the right thing.

On Republicans offering a clean, nonpartisan CR:

I am a good faith operator, I am a negotiator, I like to find common ground. Here's the problem, because we were operating in good faith and doing the most basic simple thing - I mean, the bare minimum piece of legislation to keep the lights on - I literally don't have anything to negotiate on the CR. I can't go into that document then say, "Oh, let me pull off these Republican priorities and see if we can get some more Democrats to vote on it." I don't have anything to pull off of it. I sent over a clean continuing resolution. And by the very important, it continues Biden-era policies and spending, which we conservatives don't like. We're trying to change that, but we need the appropriations process to finish it. All we needed was seven more weeks on the clock to finish the process. And the Republicans and Democrats who are appropriators are the ones that decided that date and decided it should be clean and everything was going smoothly until Chuck Schumer decided to blow it up. Is he going to fold? I don't know, but I'll tell you what needs to happen. Some other Senate Democrats need to come to their senses and realize they should not be blamed for the pain that's being inflicted on the people. Make it stop as soon as possible, do the right thing and join your Republican colleagues and open the government back up.

On President Trump's historic peace plan between Israel and Palestine:

What stands out tonight is this stunning contrast of what we're seeing. History is being made. Here's President Trump showing peace through strength, using his power and position to bring peace to the Middle East. I mean, a truly massive historic foreign policy achievement, returning hostages, restoring security to Israel, setting a foundation for lasting peace and reducing taxes on hardworking Americans at the same time. And ending the border crisis, ending the crime crisis, and reducing fraud, waste and abuse in government, and now settling international conflicts all around the globe. And here's the Democrats on Capitol Hill acting like a bunch of clowns. They're trying to lie to the American people. They're trying to play politics with government funding, and real Americans are being harmed. I think that there is such a stark contrast. I'm not sure there has ever been such a strong contrast between two political parties. The Republican Party is delivering for the American people, and the Democrats are trying to make a show out of this.

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