Mike Johnson handed Dems shutdown ammunition with ploy's 'biggest weakness': analyst

Speaker Mike Johnson is attacking Democrats for refusing to negotiate a deal, but Punchbowl News' congressional reporter Jake Sherman notes his message rings hollow — since Johnson himself declined to recall Republican members to Washington.

Democrats showed up in Congress for Tuesday’s opening session, seeking to pass their own “clean CR”— a continuing resolution that would fund the government and restore previous Medicaid cuts. Democrats argue the “clean CR” pitched by Republicans still includes significant cuts to medical research, Medicare, Affordable Care Act subsidies, and more, as Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) told MSNBC.

When Democrats attempted to propose their own CR, the few Republicans who were in the chamber refused to recognize them for the proposal and adjourned Congress instead.

In a speech Wednesday, Johnson insisted the current CR was the same one Democrats previously agreed to. At that time, Republicans demanded Democrats pass the measure and negotiate later — talks that never happened, with the “Big, Beautiful Bill” ultimately passing with the controversial cuts Democrats opposed.

Now, Democrats are refusing to repeat the process.

Republicans currently control the House, Senate, and White House.

MSNBC host Ana Cabrera noted that all of Johnson's words are contradicted by his decision to adjourn Congress as the shutdown approached Tuesday.

"What you said, Ana, is, I think, the biggest weakness in their plan, which is their insistence on not bringing the House back to Washington, which I think gives Democrats a talking point," said Sherman. "Now, everything he said, for the most part, is right. He, the House, passed a clean bill, and Democrats are demanding, as, by the way, Republicans have in the past, they're all guilty of this, they are demanding steep concessions to reopen the government. Republicans are not going to give in on that."