Speaker Johnson says shutdown continues due to Democrats being ‘afraid’ of losing seats

With little sign of the federal government shutdown ending anytime soon, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., says partisan gridlock is to blame.

“This is the first time in history that any party has chosen to shut the government down over a clean [continuing resolution]. They’re playing a game, and it’s very simple,” Johnson said Tuesday on “Mornings with Maria.” 

“Here’s the reason why Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the two leaders in both chambers for the Democrat side, are afraid of their far-left flank – they’re afraid they’re going to get a challenge in New York because Marxism is all the rage, and they’re going to lose their seats,” he continued. “So they’re putting up a fight. It makes no sense. And real people are getting hurt.”

PREDICTION MARKETS SIGNAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN MAY LAST INTO MID-NOVEMBER

The U.S. government has entered the third week of a federal shutdown, as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans remain at odds with Democrats over healthcare subsidies, Fox News reported.

President Donald Trump has placed the blame squarely on Democrats for the shutdown that has triggered thousands of federal layoffs, frozen billions in infrastructure funding and rippled through local economies nationwide.

Last Thursday, senators failed for the 10th time to break the impasse, leaving the government shutdown unresolved. Meanwhile, the House has been adjourned since Sept. 19 and is not expected to reconvene until the shutdown ends.

“It was over a month ago that the House did our job, and we passed a clean continuing resolution — a totally nonpartisan, 24-page, very simple piece of legislation to just keep the lights on,” Johnson said.

Johnson accused Democrats of pushing what he called a “dirty” resolution, claiming it would add more than a trillion dollars in new spending, including $200 billion for healthcare benefits for illegal immigrants and funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid.

Johnson also confirmed that President Trump is directly involved in talks for a way out of the government shutdown.

“The president and I, and Leader [John] Thune, sat down with Chuck Schumer … and Hakeem Jeffries … before this all began back in September. And the president himself pleaded with those two leaders, ‘Please, guys, give us the votes. Don’t shut the government down,’” Johnson said.

Johnson added that a handful of Democrats have crossed the aisle to support the GOP proposal, but not enough to end the stalemate.

“We have three Democrats … that have voted with the Republicans because they don’t want to inflict pain on the American people. But we need five more to step forward and do the right thing. That’s the impasse,” he added. “There’s nothing more that we can do on the Republican side other than offer exactly what the continuing resolution presents.”

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Fox News’ Amanda Macias contributed to this report.