Mike Johnson

It has always been the case, that is tradition and I think it is statutory law, that federal employees be paid. And that’s my position. I think they should be.

We have all voted repeatedly, over and over, to keep the government open, and it comes down to the necessity of 60 votes in the Senate.

Because they’ve decided to vote to shut the government down, they have now effectively turned off the legislative branch, the Article 1 branch of our government, and they’ve turned it over to the executive.

Let me look right into the camera and tell you clearly: Republicans are the ones concerned about health care.

Look, we’ll schedule it, I guess, as soon as she wants. It has nothing to do with it. I, we’re in pro forma session because there is nothing for the House to do. The House has done its job.

No, it has nothing to do with that at all. We will swear her in when everybody gets back. It’s a ceremonial duty.

If that is true, that should turn up the urgency and the necessity of the Democrats doing the right thing here.

That issue is for debate in the next three months.

This has nothing to do with that.

Real people are being adversely affected around the country, and some in – in very substantial ways.

We have plenty of time to debate that very complicated issue.

Real Americans are being harmed in the process of this political game.

Restore the health care programs that are being stalled for veterans and Medicare recipients who are getting home health.

We got to get this fixed now.

The House did its job. We passed a bipartisan, very clean continuing resolution...

It's kind of quiet around here. It has been for the last several days, and it's very unfortunate, because, as we're talking, real people are being adversely affected around the country, and some in – in very substantial ways.

The House did its job. The reason that House Republicans are home working in their districts, and I suspect House Democrats should be as well, is because we did that.

We passed a bipartisan, very clean continuing resolution a couple of weeks back now, and sent it to the Senate.

[Massie] doesn’t have a point.

I mean, look, I’m working on the policy.

What I’m saying is we have to keep the lights on in the building so that we can have those discussions and debates.

We’re not saying that we won’t negotiate it. We’re saying turn the lights back on in Congress.

There has to be reforms to that subsidy, because there’s a lot of fraud, waste and abuse involved in it.

In a situation like this, where the Senate Democrats have decided to turn the keys to the kingdom over to the White House, they have to make tough decisions.

This is very important. Yes it does.