As MAGA Mike Johnson tries and fails to pass a continuing resolution that prioritizes Trump’s demands ahead of the American people, DNC Senior Spokesperson Hannah Muldavin released the following statement: 

“Donald Trump is now demanding that the House GOP put his political interests ahead of the American people and shut down the government if Republicans don’t get their way. Republicans and MAGA Mike Johnson showed us yet again today that they are more consumed with assuaging Trump with political stunts than fighting for working families — willing to cause a shutdown that even Mitch McConnell warned is ‘politically beyond stupid’ if they don’t get what they want. House Republicans have once again reminded the American people of the chaos they can expect if Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Republicans are calling the shots.”

NEW: As Trump demands MAGA Mike Johnson shut down the government if they don’t get what he wants, a move Mitch McConnell calls “beyond politically stupid,” House Republicans just failed again to pass a continuing resolution that puts Trump’s demands ahead of the American people. 

The Hill: “House GOP torpedoes Speaker Johnson’s funding bill”

“A diverse group of House Republicans torpedoed Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) proposal to fund the government on Wednesday, dealing an embarrassing blow to the GOP leader and derailing his strategy to avoid a shutdown at the end of the month.

“The vote outcome, nonetheless, is putting the Speaker in a bind. It leaves the path to averting a shutdown unclear, puts him in danger of disappointing former President Trump and his conference’s right-flank, and threatens to thwart his efforts to remain GOP leader in the next Congress.”

CNN: “Johnson under pressure after House fails to pass GOP funding plan and Trump pushes shutdown”

NBC News: “House Republicans reject their own funding bill with a shutdown around the corner”

“House Republicans on Wednesday defeated their own plan to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month, with the party divided over the length of a short-term funding bill and what, if anything, should be attached to it.

“It was an embarrassing blow to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who had yanked the same funding package off the floor last week amid growing GOP defections, only to watch it collapse on Wednesday in a vote that seemed doomed from the start.”

MAGA Mike Johnson made House Republicans vote on the same legislation that he pulled just last week, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle can agree on one thing: they’re not really sure why. 

Washington Post: “House to vote Wednesday on doomed GOP bill to avert government shutdown”

Punchbowl News: “The House is set to vote today on a short-term funding bill that won’t pass. GOP lawmakers are grumbling about messaging, strategy and yearning to get back home to run for reelection. And Speaker Mike Johnson is being publicly and privately cagey about his next move, frustrating the entire House Republican Conference, which is looking for guidance about the leadership’s plans. In fact, the GOP leadership is even in the dark at most times as to what Johnson is thinking and planning.

“Johnson is putting a bill on the floor that his entire leadership team — Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Tom Emmer of Minnesota — knows is going to fail. One House Republican lawmaker entered a meeting of GOP whips Tuesday and told us that he was ‘going to see how well they’re polishing this turd.’”

Axios: “Johnson’s colleagues baffled by his shutdown strategy”

“House members in both parties are perplexed about House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) decision to revive a short-term government funding bill that he pulled last week.

“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), asked if he has any sense of why Johnson is reviving the bill, told Axios, ‘I have no idea.”

“Why it matters: Even some Republicans are questioning Johnson’s strategic decision-making, with some warning that his decision to hold a vote on the measure could actually hurt him in the long run.

“I don’t know how he thinks it’s going to pass … where are the votes coming from?” said Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas).

“Another House Republican, speaking on the condition of anonymity, called Johnson’s plan ‘puzzling’ and predicted that it will frustrate some GOP lawmakers.

“Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters: ‘There’s an old saying in Arkansas that you don’t learn nothing the second time you get kicked in the head by a mule.’”

The House GOP’s chaos continues as they follow Donald Trump and JD Vance’s calls for a government shutdown unless they get their way – proving once again they cannot govern. 

NBC News: “‘I would shut down the government in a heartbeat if they don’t get it,’ Trump said on the ‘Monica Crowley Show’ last week.”

“‘It should be in the bill. And if it’s not in the bill, you want to close it up,’ he said. ‘So I’m not there but, you know, I have influence.’”

CNBC: “Trump tells Republicans to shut down government if hard-line voter ID bill gets cut from spending bill”

“Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday said congressional Republicans should pursue a government shutdown if they cannot attach a hard-line voting bill to the temporary funding resolution that would keep the government open.”

Vance: “…And so yeah, man, why shouldn’t we be trying to force this government shutdown fight to get something out of if that’s good for the American people? 

A government shutdown could disrupt the lives of millions of Americans who are on the federal government payroll. 

Reuters: “All federal employees’ pay could be disrupted during a shutdown, though they would receive retroactive pay once government operations resume.”

Congressional Research Service: “According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the federal workforce is composed of an estimated 2.1 million civilian workers.”