US House Speaker Hopes for Breakthrough Today to Stop Shutdown
House Speaker Mike Johnson
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed hope for a breakthrough later in the day on reaching an agreement on extended funding for the US government, which had shut down at midnight amid a standoff between the Democrats and the Republicans. “I certainly hope so,” Johnson told Fox Business when asked if he thinks a breakthrough on the federal funding extension is possible today. At the same time, Johnson stressed that the Democrats have no proposals to present to the Republicans right now, and there are no active negotiations on the funding bill between the two parties. “They [the Democrats] don’t have any credible point to make, they’re just trying to make a partisan political stand for their own purposes, and real people are going to be affected,” Johnson said. According to Johnson, the US Senate is set to vote again on the House-passed continuous resolution as well as on the version of the bill introduced by US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “I will tell you that leader [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune is going to put the [funding] bill on the floor again today. They [the Democrats] are going to have another opportunity, and we are certainly hopeful that more than 44 Democrats will do the right thing,” Johnson added. The Trump administration seeks to minimize the harm from the government shutdown for the US citizens, Mike Johnson said.”His administration is working to limit the harm to the American people, but the longer this goes on, more pain will be inflicted, because it is inevitable when the government shuts down,” Johnson stated.He added that the Democrats in the Congress have dragged the US into another “reckless” shutdown to satisfy their far left base.”Rather than work with President [Donald] Trump and Republicans to get this job done, as our party has done repeatedly in the same situation over the years, Democrats want to play political games with the lives and the livelihoods of Americans,” Johnson said.The 2024 fiscal year wrapped up on September 30, yet Congress has not been able to agree on a budget for the upcoming year. This deadlock stems from a heated standoff between the Republicans and the Democrats in the Senate, where the Republicans do not possess the needed majority. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated on Tuesday that around 750,000 federal employees may be furloughed daily, resulting in a total daily compensation cost of approximately $400 million.
Americas2025 US Government Shutdown: Reasons & Consequence09:40 GMT
