Johnson flips script on Democrats with warning against government shutdown

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday released a memo that frames the looming threat of a government shutdown as a dispute over funding terms, arguing that Senate Democrats are using the threat to extract partisan priorities. The memo contends that Senate Democrats once warned that a shutdown would hurt seniors, veterans and working families, and it asserts they are now threatening to force one unless Congress repeals the Working Families Tax Cut, restores taxpayer-funded healthcare for undocumented immigrants and directs hundreds of millions of dollars to left-leaning outlets, among other provisions.

The memo catalogs past remarks from Democratic leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sept. 16, 2024, and Bernie Sanders in 2018, to illustrate the shift in rhetoric. It notes that in Sept. 2024 the Senate, then controlled by Democrats, negotiated with House Republicans and the Biden White House to avert a shutdown; a short-term extension ultimately kept funding in place through Dec. 20, 2024.

Separately, the House last week passed a short-term continuing resolution that would keep funding at roughly current levels and included additional funding for security. The measure's passage was largely along party lines, with only one Democrat voting in favor. In the Senate, Democrats and a few Republicans opposed an immediate floor vote to begin debate on the bill, complicating efforts to avert a shutdown as the Oct. 1 deadline approached.

With the Oct. 1 deadline looming, Republicans accuse Democrats of pushing for a shutdown by demanding terms that would constrain funding while advancing a partisan agenda. They point to the relative stability of funding levels since fiscal year 2024, when Democrats supported the prior administration’s spending priorities, as evidence that the current standoff represents a shift in posture rather than a simple funding negotiation. Democrats, in turn, argue that any movement toward a new funding package must protect health care access and avoid weakening federal programs, including subsidies for Affordable Care Act coverage that are set to expire at the end of 2025 without congressional action.

The dispute has drawn in a broad cast of actors and illustrates how party control of both chambers and the White House has intensified the leverage each side can wield as they seek to shape funding for the coming year. Johnson’s memo frames the clash as a test of accountability for those in power and as a pressure point for advancing policy priorities that have split the two parties for months.

As negotiations proceed, lawmakers and aides warn that any failed effort could force a government shutdown that would disrupt services such as veterans’ benefits, national security operations and nutrition programs, underscoring the high-stakes political theater around the funding bill.