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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Republicans are winning the messaging war over the ongoing government shutdown and urged his conference to keep the heat on congressional Democrats during a private call with lawmakers on Saturday.
The call came on the fourth day of the shutdown, a day after Senate Democrats again rejected a GOP-led plan to keep federal agencies funded through Nov. 21.
During the call, Johnson and other House GOP leaders urged fellow Republicans to use this next week in their districts to tell constituents about what the ongoing shutdown means for them, Fox News Digital was told.
The House speaker expressed confidence that the shutdown would end quickly if Republicans “hold the line,” Fox News Digital was told, and praised the House GOP’s unity so far amid the fallout.
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Johnson also told Republicans toward the end of the call that the House would return only after Senate Democrats voted to reopen the government, a source said.
House and Senate GOP leaders have signaled that they will not budge from their current federal funding proposal, a short-term spending bill called a continuing resolution (CR) that would keep spending levels roughly flat for seven weeks.
That measure passed the House — largely along party lines — on Sept. 19. The House has since been out of session in a bid to put pressure on Senate Democrats to accept the plan.
It is also why Johnson opted on Friday to designate the next week as a district work period, canceling a previously planned legislative session from Tuesday through Friday.
Johnson told House Republicans on the Saturday call that it was the best way to prevent “Democrat disruptions,” Fox News Digital was told.
No Republicans voiced disagreement with the plan, Fox News Digital was told, signaling the GOP’s unity on the issue.
He told reporters during a press conference Friday morning that the House may not return until Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats agreed with Republicans’ bill.
“We passed it, and it’s been rejected by the Senate,” Johnson told reporters during a news conference. “So the House will come back into session and do its work as soon as Chuck Schumer allows us to reopen the government. That’s plain and simple.”
Democrats, who were infuriated by being sidelined in the federal funding negotiations, have been pushing for an extension of Obamacare subsidies enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those enhancements would expire by the end of 2025 without congressional action.
Democrats have also introduced a counter-proposal for a CR that would keep the government funded through Oct. 31 while reversing the GOP’s cuts to Medicaid made in their “One Big, Beautiful Bill” (OBBB).
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The counter-proposal would have also restored federal funding to NPR and PBS that was cut by the Trump administration earlier this year.
Republicans have panned that plan as a non-starter full of partisan demands, while pointing out that Democrats have voted for a “clean” measure similar to the GOP proposal 13 times during former President Biden’s time in office.
On the Saturday call, House GOP leaders encouraged Republicans to emphasize that Democrats’ counter-proposal would restore funding for illegal immigrants receiving Medicaid dollars that was cut by the so-called Big, Beautiful Bill, Fox News Digital was told.
Democrats have accused Republicans of lying about that line of attack.
GOP leaders also emphasized on the call that military members are not paid during government shutdowns, urging Republicans to make that point in their districts, while also warning that federal flood insurance funding is also in danger of drying up.
Fox News Digital was also told that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said the next important date in the shutdown fight would be Oct. 15, the date of servicemembers’ next paycheck — which they could miss if the shutdown is ongoing.
Senate Democrats have now rejected the GOP’s funding plan four times since Sept. 19. The Senate is expected to next vote on the bill again on Monday.
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