A Republican military spouse lit up House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) during an appearance on CSPAN's "Washington Journal."
The Louisiana Republican appeared Thursday morning on the program to face questions about the ongoing government shutdown and the health care funding impasse keeping Democrats from backing a GOP budget bill, and a woman from Virginia called in to express her disappointment with Johnson's leadership.
"So my question or comments are related to what you said yesterday about not being open to pass any legislation until we make sure that the military gets paid, I want you to hear a little bit about my family," said the woman, who said her name is Samantha. "I have two medically fragile children, I have a husband who actively served his country. If we see a lapse in pay, my children do not get the medication that is needed for them to live their life, so we live paycheck-to-paycheck. I heard you say that you side with President Trump and I just read an article that says he wholeheartedly believes there needs to be legislation put in so that we do not miss a paycheck. You have the power to do that."
"As a Republican I am disappointed in my party and in you because you do have the power to call the House back," she added. "You refused to do that. I am begging you to pass this legislation. My kids could die. We don't have the credit because of the medical bills that I have to pay it regularly. You could stop this and you could be the one that could say the military is getting paid. I think it is awful for someone who make six figures a year to do this to a military family."
Johnson tried to reassure the caller that he shared her concerns and would take any action necessary to prevent her family from missing a paycheck.
"I am sorry to hear about your situation, and the reason I have been so angry – and they've been calling me out on media, 'Johnson's angry,'" Johnson told her. "And I am angry because of situations like yours. I have a big military district, my district is the home of the Global Strike Command at Barksdale Air Force Base and Fort Polk, the Joint Readiness Training Center. I have one of the biggest military districts, military families, in America. I have a lot of airmen and soldiers who are deployed right now and have young families at home and children in health situations like yours. This is what keeps me up at night."
"I want you to hear something clearly, the Republicans are the ones delivering for you," he added. "We had a vote to pay the troops and it was the continuing resolution three weeks ago. Every Republican but two voted to keep the government open so your paycheck can flow. Every Democrat in the House except for one voted to close. Democrats are the ones preventing you from getting a check. If we did another vote on the floor to pay troops, it's not a lawmaking exercise because Chuck Schumer will hold it up in the Senate. He is demonstrating by voting now six times to keep the government closed and does not want the troops to be paid, and you should listen to his comments last night, as reported this morning. He is enjoying this. He said every day gets better for us, quote-unquote. Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are preventing your family from getting the care they need, not Republicans. My heart goes out to you."
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