Johnson Accuses Democrats of Making Extreme Demands to End Shutdown

Continuing his remarks, Speaker Mike Johnson argued that Democrats were deliberately tying government funding to unrelated policy demands, preventing progress on reopening federal agencies. Displaying what he called a “visual aid” outlining the situation, Johnson said the issue was not a dispute over health care or immigration alone, but about unreasonable conditions being imposed by Senate Democrats.

“We aren’t [in control], not in the Senate,” Johnson said. “Sixty votes control the Senate, not a bare majority. And so point number one, Democrat votes are required to open the government. Point number two, they refuse to do it. They have now voted 12 times to keep the government closed.”

He accused Democrats of presenting a list of funding demands that Republicans could not accept, including what he described as billions of dollars in new benefits and foreign aid. “Among the things they’re demanding — this is what the Democrats in the Senate are demanding to reopen the government — they want to give $200 billion in health benefits to illegal aliens and noncitizens paid for by U.S. taxpayers. That is in their proposal,” Johnson stated.

He further alleged that Democrats sought “billions in wasteful programs to be returned to foreign countries” and additional funding “to left-leaning news organizations,” while cutting resources from rural hospitals. “They want to turn it all back on. They’re demanding that we do all that to get the government open for hardworking Americans again. They want to give a half a billion to left leaning news organizations and — and they want to cut $50 billion from rural hospitals,” Johnson said.

The Speaker reiterated that Republicans would not agree to such terms, describing them as “out of step” with the priorities of working Americans. “We cannot, we will not do those things. And they know that very well,” he concluded.

As the shutdown approached its fourth week, millions of federal employees continued to face missed paychecks and uncertain futures. With negotiations still stalled, Johnson’s remarks reflected the deep partisan divide that has defined the latest budget standoff—one that shows few signs of resolution in the near future.