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House Speaker Mike Johnson demanded Democrats follow “common sense” on Sunday during an interview on CNN, as he explained President Donald Trump’s plans to meet with congressional leadership as a potential government shutdown looms.
“I had a long talk with the president yesterday, Jake. And, you know, he feels the same way that I do about this. He‘s always open to discussion, but he wants to operate in good faith. So he decided to bring us all in. He wants to talk with Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries and just try to convince them to follow common sense and do what’s right by the American people,” Johnson said during CNN’s “State of the Union,” hosted by Jake Tapper.
Trump plans to meet with congressional leaders from both parties on Monday.
“It’s important to point out the only thing we are trying to do is buy a little time. You know, the appropriators in both parties have been working very diligently over the last many weeks to work through the appropriations process. As you know, the law requires us to pass 12 separate appropriations bills and to be good stewards of American taxpayer dollars. But that hasn’t happened. It usually doesn’t happen in Washington. Everything gets pushed to the end of the year right before Christmas. And there’s a giant omnibus spending bill,” he continued.
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Tapper also asked Johnson if Trump was going to negotiate with Democrats at all.
“We’ll have to see, but I can tell you where his head and his heart are. He wants to do right by the people. He does not want the Democrats to hold up troops’ pay. You know, the people who serve in the military, they don’t get paid during the shutdown,” he said, citing other effects of a shutdown. “That’s what Chuck Schumer is holding hostage. Why? So that he can add $1.5 trillion in new spending at a time when we’re simply just trying to keep the government going for seven weeks so we can have those debates. It’s wrong.”
The CNN host pressed again about whether Republicans would try to negotiate.
“He wants to bring in the leaders to come in and act like leaders and do the right thing for the American people. It’s fine to have partisan debates and squabbles, but you don’t hold the people hostage for their services to allow yourself political cover. And that’s what Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are doing right now,” Johnson said.
Schumer’s and Jeffries’ offices did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, “We’ve made clear that we’re ready, willing and able to sit down with anyone at any time and at any place in order to make sure that we can actually fund the government, avoid a painful Republican-caused shutdown, and address the health care crisis that Republicans have caused that’s impacting everyday Americans all across the country.”
He lamented that the Democrats’ initial meeting with Trump was canceled.
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But Trump canceled the meeting in a lengthy post on his social media platform Truth Social, where he blasted the Democratic leaders for pushing “radical Left policies that nobody voted for.”
“I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive,” Trump said.
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