Washington — Congressional leaders traded blame for the government shutdown on Sunday as the stalemate over how to reopen the government stretched into another week without progress on negotiations.
The Senate is set to reconvene Monday after dueling measures to fund the government fell short of the necessary support for a fourth time on Friday, showing no sign of movement from either party. Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson canceled plans for the lower chamber return to Washington this week in an effort to increase pressure on the Senate.
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that “the House did its job” by passing a measure last month that would fund the government until Nov. 21, saying the reason House Republicans will remain in their districts this week is “because we did that.”
“I pray that more Democrats in the Senate will come to their senses and do the right thing, and when they have the next opportunity on Monday to vote to open the government. I surely hope that they will,” Johnson said.
The House-passed measure first failed in the Senate on Sept. 19, with all but one Democrat opposing in favor of a separate measure to fund the government through October that also includes Democrats’ health care priorities. Then, as the government was hours from shutting down last week, the Senate voted again on the measure, when two more senators crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans in favor. But support for the bill still remained shy of the 60-votes required in the Senate.
Since then, Senate Republicans have been seeking to peel off Democratic support for their measure, while Democratic leaders have remained firm in their demand that a funding measure include an extension of health insurance tax credits. And in subsequent votes on Wednesday and Friday, Republicans were unable to pick up more support from Democrats on their bill.
Johnson said Republicans are ready to negotiate on the health insurance tax credits, but he said it’s a complicated issue that will take time to address, pointing to possible reforms aimed at weeding out “a lot of fraud, waste and abuse.”
“We’re not saying that we won’t negotiate it,” Johnson said. “We’re saying turn the lights back on in Congress.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who also appeared Sunday on “Face the Nation,” argued that Johnson is “not serious” about negotiating the health care issue, pointing to his move to keep the House away from Washington this week. And the New York Democrat urged that the only way the funding impasse will be resolved is with a meeting between congressional leaders and the president.
“We’ve been trying for months and months to sit down with them and have a serious conversation addressing America’s healthcare needs, and they’ve refused and refused and refused,” Schumer said.
Schumer and Johnson, along with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, met with President Trump last week. But the meeting failed to produce an agreement to avert a shutdown ahead of the deadline. Schumer said Sunday that Mr. Trump “wasn’t serious” in the meeting, after which the president posted what appeared to be an AI-generated video mocking the Democratic leaders.
“The American people know that they’re in charge — Republican president, Republican Senate, Republican House — that they have a responsibility to govern, which means sit down and talk with us so we can address these needs,” Schumer said.
