Speaker Mike Johnson moved to shut down any attempts to negotiate a way out of the shutdown Thursday as some senators look for off-ramps.
Johnson said in a news conference outside his Capitol office that Democrats should stop pressing Republicans to come to any agreement to reopen the government, saying Senate Democrats instead need to pass the seven-week stopgap bill that had already cleared the House.
“I quite literally have nothing to negotiate,” Johnson said, before again warning that the shutdown will “inflict pain” on Americans as it drags on.
Still, Johnson is balancing concerns from some Republicans wary of President Donald Trump’s plans to slash federal workers and certain program funding amid the shutdown. Two House Republicans raised concerns directly with Vought on a private call Wednesday afternoon.
Before Johnson spoke, Trump said would meet Thursday with White House budget director Russ Vought to determine which “Democrat Agencies” they would cut.
Other House Republicans, meanwhile, are livid any GOP senators would be willing to talk about off-ramps to the shutdown, including promises of health care negotiations. Rep. Rick Allen of Georgia railed against attempts to extend the expiring Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies that are at the center of the Democratic shutdown demands during the House GOP call Wednesday. He pressed Republicans to not just allow the subsidies to expire but to rekindle their attempts to repeal and replace the ACA altogether.
Johnson backed Trump in saying the president has the authority to slash federal workers and funding during the shutdown. He added Trump takes “no pleasure” in it.
“He doesn’t want to do it,” Johnson said.
The speaker also referenced a flurry of inflammatory AI-generated deepfake videos, including several that Trump posted after his Monday White House sitdown with congressional leaders depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero and mustache. One has fabricated audio of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer saying Democrats need to court undocumented immigrants because voters have turned on their “trans bullshit.”
Johnson said he’d advise Jeffries to “just ignore it.”
The speaker also criticized Senate leaders for entertaining a plan to leave Washington for the weekend after voting a fourth time on the House-passed stopgap Friday. “Of course” the Senate should stay through the weekend and keep voting, Johnson said.
“The House is coming back next week, hoping they will be sending us something to work on, that we can get back to the work of the people,” he said. “They’re anxious to come back.”
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