Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) interrupted a House Republican press conference Wednesday, urging Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to “call the leadership of both parties” to find a solution to the government shutdown.
Houlahan’s interjection came as Johnson started to take questions during a press conference on the Capitol steps, yelling over the first reporter Johnson called on and saying Johnson is “the Speaker for the whole House.”
“We’re having a press conference, thank you,” Johnson said.
Houlahan continued, “I am part of the American people —”
“And you should respect free speech,” Johnson said, saying he would “love to talk” to Houlahan in his office.
“Call the leadership of both parties and bring us together and solve this problem together,” Houlahan said.
Johnson noted he, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) all met with President Trump in the Oval Office in the days before the shutdown started.
A Capitol Police officer approached Houlahan but retreated after she noted she is a member of Congress.
Wednesday marks the 36th day of the government shutdown, making it the longest shutdown in history.
Through the shutdown, Republicans have called on Senate Democrats to pass a Republican-crafted “clean” stopgap to fund the government at current levels through Nov. 21. Democrats have called on Republicans to negotiate on health care, particularly on extending enhanced ObamaCare subsidies that expire at the end of the year, before voting to fund the government.
“You voted to shut down the government. You voted to stop SNAP benefits,” Johnson told Houlihan. “You voted to not pay the troops, not pay TSA and Border Patrol. You may regret it now, but that’s your vote, and it’s on the record.”
Johnson and Houlihan talked over each other.
“You are absolutely misrepresenting history, sir, and you’re dividing the American people unnecessarily,” Houlahan said. “I do not regret anything. It is important that we unify and that we work together as both parties for the American people.”
After she walked away from the press conference, Houlahan told The Hill that she chose to interrupt because she had no indication Johnson had talked to the Democratic leaders “in a serious way about trying to come to a compromise.”
“This is not a mandate. This president has no mandate. These issues are real issues. They deserve to have real conversations. We deserve to have conversations across with the Senate and with the House,” Houlahan said.
She pointed to decisive Democratic wins in Tuesday’s elections in New Jersey, Virginia, and elsewhere, saying Johnson was trying to “gaslight the American people about the reality.”
Houlahan rejected Republicans’ demands that negotiations begin only after Democrats vote to open the government.
“This administration has been completely untrustworthy, has shown over and over again that they do nothing but renege on their promises,” she said. “He should be just as angry as I am. He’s the Speaker of the House, and he has abdicated his authority, his responsibility, the authority and the responsibility of this Congress to be the power of the purse.”
