House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Monday challenged Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to a debate about the government shutdown on the floor of the lower chamber.
The request for a prime-time, nationally televised debate comes as the government shutdown approaches a full week, with each side in Congress blaming the other.
“Democrats have been clear and consistent in our position,” the New York Democrat said in a letter to Johnson. “The country needs immediate, bipartisan negotiations between the White House and congressional leadership in order to reach an enlightened spending agreement that reopens the government, improves the lives of hardworking American taxpayers and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis.”
Last month, the House passed a stopgap funding bill that would fund the government through Nov. 21. Only one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (Maine), voted for the measure.
The measure, which Johnson called “clean” and “nonpartisan,” has repeatedly failed in the Senate, though. Democrats, led by Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), have argued that any stopgap bill must include a permanent extension of subsidies offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which are slated to expire at the end of the year.
The House is out of session this week on Johnson’s directive, with the Senate left to negotiate an end to the first shutdown in more than six years. Just three members of the Senate Democratic Caucus — John Fetterman (Pa.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.) and Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with Democrats — have voted in favor of the Republican funding bill.
“Given the urgency of the moment and the Republican refusal to negotiate a bipartisan agreement, a debate on the House Floor will provide the American people with the transparency they deserve,” Jeffries added. “It will also give you an opportunity to explain your my way or the highway approach to shutting the government down, when Democratic votes are needed to resolve the impasse that exists.”
The Speaker on Monday dismissed the possibility of a debate with Jeffries, saying his colleague is making “desperate pleases for attention.”
“The House has done its job,” Johnson added. “I’m not going to let Hakeem try to pretend for these theatrics. This is a Chuck Schumer decision. The ball is in the Senate’s court now,” he said.
Johnson also told MSNBC Monday that the GOP-backed House bill is intended to keep the government open and afford Congress time for a debate on the ACA subsidies. However, with open enrollment set to begin for most states on Nov. 1, premiums for millions could soon increase.
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