On the 37th day of the ongoing government shutdown, Speaker Mike Johnson held a press conference in Washington, D.C., joined by Republican Governance Group Vice Chairman Carlos Gimenez and other members of House GOP leadership. The group discussed what they described as economic challenges caused by Democratic policies and outlined Republican efforts to address affordability for American families.
Speaker Johnson criticized the Biden administration’s economic record and highlighted recent economic indicators. “President Trump and Republicans are delivering results for the American people that they can see and feel. To date, we’ve seen core inflation nearing its lowest level in four years. Gas prices have fallen to a four-year low, prices for everyday goods continue to decline. And blue-collar workers are seeing the largest increase in wage growth in nearly six decades,” Johnson said. “That’s the result of our policies. In Congress, House Republicans are working hand in hand with President Trump to advance his affordability agenda.”
Johnson emphasized Republican legislative efforts such as the Working Families Tax Cut, describing it as “the largest tax cut in U.S. history for working and middle-class Americans.” He noted that this legislation includes provisions like no tax on tips or overtime pay and real tax relief for seniors.
Addressing Democratic economic proposals, Johnson said: “It is very easy to run and win as a socialist, right? All you do is promise everything to everyone for free. What a great message that is. Well, that really resonates for people who don’t study history. And while you’re making all those promises, you just hope you hope that they never realize the trap that you’re actually setting, the impossibility of fulfilling your fantastical claims and dreams, and the extreme danger and chaos that would result if you ever could. When you run as a socialist, you have to hope that they never understand that this will lead to the inevitable loss of their freedom, their opportunity, and their security, the loss of meritocracy and fairness in society, the loss of colorblindness, and the loss of emphasis on character and the morality, and the personal incentive. If you run as a socialist, you run on a big list of false claims, and you promise everything to everyone and you can’t deliver, and if you were ever able to deliver, it would be to the great detriment of the very people that you lured in to vote for you.”
Johnson also blamed Democrats for prolonging the shutdown: “They’ve created a mess for America with this pointless government shutdown. The Democrats will tell you that they’re feeling emboldened. They’re feeling emboldened because they had a few blue state election results. It does not change the fact that they have walked their party off a cliff with no parachute and no path forward.”
He added: “The reason we’re stuck right now is because of one simple fact. If they vote to reopen the government, the Senate Democrats are afraid that the radicals in their party will say that they caved. They’re afraid of the retribution that will come from that. But if they keep the government shut down, they know very well, as we all do, that millions of Americans will continue to suffer as essential services remain unfunded and paychecks to federal workers continue to stay stalled. So our question for Democrats this morning is this: which constituency matters more? The loud radicals in your party or hardworking American people? I can tell you which side Republicans are on.” He noted House Republicans had voted multiple times in favor of reopening.
Mike Johnson has represented Louisiana’s 4th congressional district since 2017 after succeeding John Fleming https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/J000299. Before serving in Congress he was part of Louisiana’s state legislature from 2015 through 2017 https://www.house.gov/johnson. Born in Shreveport in 1972, Johnson currently lives in Benton https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/biography/166423/mike-johnson, holds both undergraduate (1995) and law degrees (1998) from Louisiana State University.
