House Speaker Mike Johnson has officially had it with Chuck Schumer’s political theater. After more than a month of federal dysfunction and Democrat finger-pointing, Johnson isn’t just sitting back and watching the meltdown. He’s stepping up, skipping past Schumer’s blockade, and taking his case straight to senators who still have a conscience, if there are any left.
On Tuesday, Johnson made it crystal clear: if Senate Democrats won’t lead, he’ll lead for them. Speaking from the Capitol, he laid the blame squarely where it belongs, on Schumer and his gang of left-wing obstructionists who apparently think a record-breaking government shutdown is a great time to play chicken with the American people’s paychecks and security.
“So we’re going above the heads of the so-called leadership,” Johnson said, “and we are appealing to the consciences of a handful of people in the Senate who want to do the right thing and just stop the pain.” That’s right, conscience. Something you won’t find in Schumer’s office, where the shutdown seems to be less about solutions and more about scoring points against President Trump and the GOP.
Let’s be real: Johnson’s House passed a continuing resolution back on September 19. It wasn’t a conservative wishlist. It wasn’t stuffed with MAGA priorities. It was a clean, 24-page bill with zero partisan riders, basically the political equivalent of a white flag. And still, Schumer sat on it. Why? Because solving the problem would mean losing a political weapon.
While the media obsesses over Republican “infighting,” it’s the Senate Democrats who’ve decided that federal workers, small businesses, and needy families are all expendable if it helps them paint the GOP as heartless. Never mind that Johnson gave them everything they asked for. Never mind that the House already did its job. Schumer’s still holding the government hostage so he can run out the clock and say “see, we told you Republicans can’t govern.”
Now, Johnson’s strategy is to bypass Schumer entirely by rallying sensible senators, both Republicans and Democrats, to force a vote on the House’s clean CR. It’s a bold move and a necessary one, because playing nice with Schumer clearly doesn’t work.
This shutdown isn’t about governing anymore. It’s about Democrats proving they’d rather burn the place down than give President Trump and House Republicans a win, even a bipartisan one. Johnson isn’t having it. And neither should the American people.
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