House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., accused Senate Democrats on Sunday of not being \u201cserious\u201d about negotiating an end to the government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not serious. This is not a serious negotiation. They\u2019re doing this to get political cover,\u201d Johnson told NBC News\u2019 \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d accusing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., of using the government shutdown as a ploy to help a future re-election bid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johnson also said that Senate Democrats are the reason the government shut down, accusing them of seeking to fund emergency health services for undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who appeared on \u201cMeet the Press\u201d just before Johnson, accused Republicans of being the driving force behind the ongoing government shutdown, saying that GOP leaders in Congress and President Donald Trump have gone \u201cradio silent\u201d in negotiations to reopen the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe last time there was a conversation with Republican leadership was in the White House meeting last Monday. And unfortunately, since that point in time, Republicans, including Donald Trump, have gone radio silent,\u201d Jeffries told \u201cMeet the Press\u201d moderator Kristen Welker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen is negotiation through deepfake videos, the House canceling votes and, of course, President Trump spending yesterday on the golf course. That\u2019s not responsible behavior,\u201d the minority leader added, pointing to AI-generated videos Trump has posted online of his political foes, including Jeffries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later in the interview, Jeffries responded more directly to the president\u2019s posts that included AI-generated images and videos of the minority leader, calling them \u201coutrageous, \u201cunhinged\u201d and \u201cunreasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe American people deserve better than lies, than attacks, than deepfake videos,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johnson\u2019s and Jeffries\u2019 comments come as the federal government is set to enter the sixth day of a government shutdown on Monday because Congress has not successfully appropriated the funds to keep it open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a separate interview Sunday on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., cast doubt on the idea that the shutdown could end soon, saying it was up to Democrats to decide on the length of the shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I think it\u2019s just as long as the Democrats want it to go on. I mean, they\u2019re the ones \u2014 they have the control, the controlling card right now. … It\u2019s simply are the Democrats going to open up the government or aren\u2019t they?\u201d he said when he was asked about how long the shutdown could drag on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thune also said he hopes “reasonable” Senate Democrats will vote alongside Republicans this week on a GOP-backed bill to reopen the government but didn’t name any Democrats who are leaning toward that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There are reasonable Democrats out there who are having conversations with Republicans, and I\u2019m hopeful those are going to yield some results,\u201d the majority leader added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
House lawmakers were set to return to Washington this week for the first time since Sept. 19, but late Friday, Johnson canceled the votes that were set to occur this week, labeling the week a district work period instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Republicans and Democrats are still at a stalemate in the Senate, which held votes Friday on a Democratic-backed plan and a Republican-backed plan to temporarily fund the government. Neither plan received the 60 votes needed to move forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before they left town in September, House Republicans passed a stopgap funding measure that would fund the government at current levels through Nov. 21. Just one House Democrat \u2014 Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine \u2014 joined his GOP colleagues in voting for that bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that temporary funding bill has stalled in the Senate, where the bills have failed multiple times to clear the 60-vote threshold, with a majority of Democratic senators voting against it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johnson pointed to those votes Sunday as the cause of the shutdown, telling Welker, \u201cThe reason the government is closed is because Chuck Schumer and 43 of his Democrat colleagues in the Senate have decided now to vote multiple times to keep the government closed. We need them to turn the lights back on so that everyone can do their work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe House did our work,\u201d Johnson added. \u201cWe passed a bipartisan, clean continuing resolution to keep the government open. And what did Chuck Schumer send back in response? His counterproposal would add $1.5 trillion in new spending for a simple seven-week stopgap funding measure to keep the government open.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senate Democrats have proposed their own temporary funding measure that would fund the government through Oct. 31. It would also restore previous GOP cuts to Medicaid and extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Republicans have accused Democrats of trying to give Medicaid access to undocumented immigrants \u2014 something that is already prohibited under previous laws \u2014 in that bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeffries, in his interview, accused Republicans of \u201clying\u201d on that point \u201cbecause they\u2019re losing in the court of public opinion as it relates to what\u2019s going on right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that Democrats \u201care standing up for the health care of hardworking American taxpayers, of working-class Americans, of middle-class Americans and everyday Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeffries also said that \u201cfederal law clearly prohibits the expenditure of taxpayer dollars to provide health care to undocumented immigrants, period, full stop, and no Democrat on Capitol Hill is trying to change that law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year have been at the center of the debate over funding the government. Republicans \u2014 including Johnson on Sunday \u2014 argue that negotiations about the subsidies shouldn\u2019t happen now, as they don\u2019t expire until the end of December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have plenty of time to figure that out, because, again, it doesn\u2019t expire until the end of the year,\u201d the speaker told Welker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats, on the other hand, argue that the time to negotiate on the subsidies is now, before open enrollment for health care plans begins in early November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two leaders also spoke about the Trump administration\u2019s plan to conduct mass layoffs of federal workers during the government shutdown. Multiple administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance last week, have blamed Democrats for fueling the layoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn a situation like this, where the Senate Democrats have decided to turn the keys to the kingdom over to the to the White House, they have to make tough decisions. Russ Vought runs the Office of Management and Budget,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cHe has to now look at all of the federal government, recognizing that the funding streams have been turned off, and determine what are essential programs, policies and personnel. That\u2019s that\u2019s not a job that he relishes, but he\u2019s being required to do it by Chuck Schumer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a separate interview later Sunday on CNN, National Economic Council Kevin Hassett Director confirmed that the administration still planned to fire some furloughed federal workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If the president decides that the negotiations are absolutely going nowhere, then there will be layoffs,” Hassett said. “I think that everybody’s still hopeful that when we get a fresh start at the beginning of the week, that we can get the Democrats to see that it’s just common sense to avoid layoffs like that.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n