Johnson Reveals Real Reason Schumer’s Keeping Govt. Shutdown

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) blasted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) over a reported plan by the Democratic leader to keep the government shut down at least until a left-wing rally scheduled for Oct. 18 in Washington, D.C., is held.

Speaking from the U.S. Capitol on the 13th day of the government shutdown, Johnson said Republicans have learned that Democratic leaders want to wait until after a scheduled “No Kings” rally in DC on Oct. 18 is held before they will agree to vote to reopen the government, to appease the party’s left-wing base.

“They have a Hate America rally scheduled for Oct. 18 on the National Mall. Pro-Hamas, Antifa people, they’re all coming out. House Democrats are selling T-shirts for the event,” he went on. “It’s being told to us they can’t reopen the government until after that rally, because they can’t face their rabid base!”

“They would send half a billion dollars to liberal news outlets by refunding the corporation for public broadcasting and also restore up to $5 billion of American taxpayer funds for wasteful spending for international projects. A couple of examples. This is in their legislation, their counterproposal to keep the lights open,” Johnson said.

“This is what they want to do. $24.6 million of your hard-earned dollars for climate resilience in honduras. 13.4 million for civic engagement in Zimbabwe. 3.9 million for democracy grants in the western balkans and 2.9 million of desert locust risk reduction in the Horn of Africa. 2 million for quote organizing for feminist democratic principles in Africa. We aren’t doing that. These are unserious proposal from unserious people and they are playing games while real Americans are being harmed adversely by the shutdown,” Johnson added.

The White House sharply rebuked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday after he said the ongoing federal government shutdown was “getting better” for Democrats — a remark that drew outrage across Washington and underscored the growing political divide as the standoff drags on.

Two of President Trump’s Cabinet secretaries indicated that Democrats are keeping the government closed so that “No Kings” mass rallies can happen on Saturday, October 18.

The comments are similar to what House Republicans have said, blaming Democrats for the closure that has been going on for two weeks. They believe Democrats wanted to keep the government closed until after the protests so they could show party activists that they are fighting back against the Trump administration.

In criticizing the rallies, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: “’No Kings’ means no paychecks, no paychecks and no government.”

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman voiced criticism of his own party over the ongoing government shutdown, saying Democrats are sending the “wrong message” in their handling of the budget impasse.

“Shutting our government down. That’s the wrong message for the world, for Americans as well, too. I don’t care whose that blame is. It’s not about a blame game. It’s about opening this government, having this conversation, and literally let’s address these kinds of healthcare issues as well too,” Fetterman said.

Fetterman said he will “never” support a government shutdown, criticizing lawmakers who refuse to negotiate and urging both parties to reach an agreement to end the stalemate.

“Really, the losers are these poor Americans here that are going to get caught in the middle of this thing. I fully support [having] a conversation about extending those [Obamacare] tax credits. I think a lot of Republicans might even agree with that too,” he said.