House Speaker Mike Johnson Talks Government Shutdown
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What are the reasons behind the current government shutdown?
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Joining us now, as we promised, live from Capitol Hill is the U.S. Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. Welcome back to Bloomberg TV and radio, Mr. Speaker. Been looking forward to the conversation and I appreciate your time this evening. I'm sure you're having a ball and you don't want this to end anytime soon, but I'm just wondering what your gut check is here and how long you think this is going to go on.
This is a very frustrating exercise for us. It's no fun at all, Joe, and that's because real Americans are feeling real harm because of this. It's political games being played by Democrats in the Senate. There is one reason and one reason alone that they have all just magically changed their tune. I mean, they've done a 180-degree turn from what they have always said and done emphatically. in keeping the government open. They said as recently as March of this year. We're playing the highlight reel tape outside the speaker's office right now. They all said in their own words, you can't shut the government down. It's too painful. Something changed. What changed was the political calculation. Chuck Schumer is worried about, as was just said, an attack or a challenge from his left flank.
He's afraid that the Marxist wave in New York is going to take him over as well because he represents that state. and so he's got to pick a fight with Trump and show that he's fighting. Well, they picked a fight that has nothing to do with stopgap funding. They're talking about the Obamacare subsidies, for example. That's a December 31 policy issue. We were always going to negotiate that and debate it and deliberate over it in October, November. That always has been on the schedule, and they know that, but they're trying to pretend that's the issue of the day. It's not. It's a red herring. It's a distraction. They're not doing their jobs, and real Americans are getting hurt.
Well, we spoke just a few moments ago with Congresswoman Catherine Clark, who said we just want to gesture, Mr. Speaker. Would you consider a promise to bring that negotiated legislation to a floor vote up or down? We'll make sure that happens before the end of the year.
The Speaker of the House is in no position to project forward what the outcome of a big policy debate is going to be. That would be unprecedented for anyone to do that, and I won't. What we have told them is the obvious fact that there are ongoing negotiations and discussions going on today. between Republicans and Democrats, and certainly within our own caucuses, about how some of that would need to be reformed. Look, there's a lot of conservatives who have real problems with the Obamacare subsidy, okay? When the government subsidizes something, it means it's not working. It's like the EV mandates, you know? People didn't want to buy electric vehicles. The government said, we'll give you $7,500 cash if you do, and they still didn't buy enough of them, right?
When the government subsidizes something, it means the market's not working. Obamacare was supposed to bring down the cost of healthcare. The premiums have skyrocketed since it was created in 2010. They're up like 60%. So something's not working. There's real reforms that are needed. But it's a complex issue that takes a lot of time for members on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers to negotiate.
How does Speaker Johnson view the role of Democrats in the shutdown?
They're trying to short circuit all that right now. That's not how this process works. The Clean CR is so simple, Joe. It's 24 pages in length. It has exactly zero Republican policy writers on it. We made it so simple.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What are the reasons behind the current government shutdown?
0:00–3:21
2
How does Speaker Johnson view the role of Democrats in the shutdown?
3:21–6:25
3
What is the significance of the Obamacare subsidies in the shutdown debate?
6:25–10:38
4
What are the potential impacts of the government shutdown on federal workers?
10:38–14:14
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