Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Friday morning that Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries “seemed to be trying to set up some sort of a government shutdown.”
“We have been negotiating in good faith, trying to get a top-line number. But so far as I know, they’ve been unresponsive the past two days or so,” Johnson said.
The speaker weighed in as anxieties are spiking about the coming March 14 deadline for extending government funding. Democrats have grown wary about cutting a deal with Republicans as President Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk move swiftly to unilaterally cut agency funding
Top appropriators have been negotiating in recent weeks about a top-line spending number — a necessary first step toward passing funding for the remainder of fiscal 2025. The chair of the House Appropriations Committee, in fact, said Thursday night — contra Johnson — that those talks are ongoing.
“We are actively exchanging proposals,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said. “You know, we are exchanging things back and forth.”
The top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (R-Conn.), said much the same Friday after Johnson spoke: “The speaker is mistaken. No one has walked away from the table. We sent them an offer yesterday. He should give Chairman Cole a call for a status update.”
