By Newsmax Wires | Sunday, 02 November 2025 03:52 PM EST
Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday dismissed claims that President Donald Trump is responsible for the ongoing government shutdown, accusing Democrats of “digging in their heels” to protect partisan spending while Republicans have repeatedly sought to reopen the government.
“We reject all of this,” the Louisiana Republican said on “Fox News Sunday.” “This isn’t about winning a political contest here. Real people are losing.”
Johnson alleged that Democrats have “voted 14 times now to keep the government closed — to block SNAP benefits, to prevent paying the troops.” He added that the party has “shut the government down over restoring free healthcare for illegal aliens as part of their $1.5 trillion partisan wish list.”
The speaker warned of growing consequences for ordinary Americans, citing millions of families reliant on food assistance and other aid programs. “Forty-two million recipients of SNAP are in jeopardy right now,” he said. “Women, infants, and children are running out of funds from the nutrition programs that President Trump and the White House have heroically funded so far.”
Johnson acknowledged Trump’s frustration over Senate Republicans’ reluctance to eliminate the filibuster, calling the president “a big-hearted leader who wants everyone to get their services — veterans’ care, SNAP benefits, all of it.” He noted that Trump has “tried everything he can to negotiate” but criticized the filibuster as a tool “to protect the worst impulses of the far left.”
The speaker rejected allegations that Trump is “using people as pawns,” calling the claim “absurd.” He accused Democrats of leveraging the shutdown “as leverage to please their far-left base” and condemned Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for “weaponizing hunger” and ignoring bipartisan solutions.
On healthcare, Johnson dismissed criticism of GOP leadership, stating that committees have been “working around the clock” on reform plans. He blamed Democratic policies for rising premiums, saying “Democrats created Obamacare, and premiums are up 60% since 2010. Only Republicans will fix that.”
Johnson also defended U.S. strikes on drug-running vessels, calling the actions legally justified and necessary to protect the homeland from “narcoterrorists” who could kill “tens of thousands of Americans.”
He denied reports of delaying the swearing-in of Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, stating she will be seated when Congress resumes. Johnson noted that 43,000 pages of documents from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate have already been released, emphasizing “maximum transparency — always have been.”
