Tempers flare between Democratic senators and Speaker Johnson over Grijalva’s swearing in and shutdown strategy
CNN
By Annie Grayer, CNN
(CNN) — Arizona’s Democratic senators got into a hallway confrontation with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday as the government shutdown’s eighth day dragged on.
The clash between Johnson and Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego centered on the speaker’s decision not to swear in Democrats’ newest congresswoman-elect until they break the Senate logjam and reopen the government. Full of traded insults and forceful cross talk, the six-minute exchange underscored just how far apart the two parties remain on how to approach reopening the federal government as each side digs in.
The Democratic senators had been speaking with reporters outside the speaker’s office in the US Capitol to argue he was refusing to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva because she’d be the deciding signature to force a House vote related to the Jeffrey Epstein case files.
The speaker exchanged handshakes with the pair as he approached to push back on their claims.
“Your excuse just keeps on moving,” said Gallego, as the Democrats pointed to Johnson’s swearing-in of Florida GOP Reps. Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine during a pro forma session – when the House wasn’t formally in session – earlier this year.
Johnson defended his decision to not do the same for Grijalva by saying “that was the exception we did because the family was here. Ms. Grijalva, Rep.-elect Grijalva has not yet had a scheduled date because she was elected after the House was out of session. So, I am anxious to administer the oath to her as soon as you guys vote to open the government.”
Johnson, who said he was happy Grijalva was elected, denied that it had anything to do with a vote on the Epstein files and remarked the House didn’t need to vote on releasing more of them because the House Oversight Committee is already conducting a bipartisan investigation.
“They’re doing the work. They’re doing it methodically. They’re doing it with subpoena power, and you don’t need an act of Congress for that to happen because they’re already on it,” Johnson said.
The exchange grew more heated as the lawmakers cut each other off, raising their voices to speak over each other.
“Stop covering up for pedophiles,” Gallego charged.
“That is ridiculous,” Johnson immediately shot back, arguing separately that “it has nothing to do with Epstein.”
GOP Rep. Mike Lawler of New York walked up to the group near the exchange’s end, jumping in to defend Johnson.
“Nobody is covering up for pedophiles. Back the hell off. You’re absolutely absurd,” he told Kelly and Gallego.
Shutdown stalemate
The lawmakers also traded barbs over the best way to reopen the government.
Kelly repeatedly pushed Johnson to bring the House back into session so that lawmakers could have a serious discussion about how to fund the government and address expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies – a key demand for Democrats. He said his Republican colleagues in the Senate were telling him that they didn’t want to negotiate without House Republicans also weighing in.
“If you bring them back, we will have a discussion. It’s very simple,” Kelly said.
Johnson was adamant that the House had done its job, a line he has repeated countless times since government funding lapsed on October 1, and said there wouldn’t be a discussion on the Obamacare subsidies until Democrats provided the needed votes in the Senate to pass the Republican House-passed short-term funding bill and reopen the government.
In an apparent attempt to make it personal for the speaker, Kelly argued health care premiums could skyrocket in Johnson’s own Louisiana district.
“I imagine yours are going to hurt even worse than ours with these premium increases. We have to fix this,” Kelly said.
But Johnson held firm that he would not have that policy conversation until the government shutdown ended.
Multiple times, the Democrats gestured to the empty House floor and accused Johnson of giving his lawmakers an extended summer vacation as the two sides continued to talk over each other.
Lawler held up a copy of a House bill that he said would extend the ACA subsidies for one year.
“We actually have put forth legislation to do it. You guys just keep pontificating. How about you go down the hall and go vote to open the government up? That would be great,” he quipped.
After accusing the Democrats of “holding the American people hostage,” Johnson ended the exchange.
“OK I’m going to get back to work. These gentlemen had a publicity stunt here. You see the issue, they need to go vote to reopen the government, plain and simple. The House has done its work,” he told reporters.
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