House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) spent Thursday morning on MSNBC taking aim at House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), accusing him of keeping the House from functioning during the record-setting government shutdown. Yet, when pressed by host Ali Vitali about why he and many Democrats had helped secure Johnson’s speakership over a year ago, Jeffries’ answers revealed a careful balancing act.
Jeffries told Vitali on Way Too Early that Republicans must be held accountable for stalling an extension of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, which he framed as the core issue behind the shutdown. Vitali pressed him on his current relationship with Johnson, noting that Democrats had previously supported the Republican speaker when his position was in question, according to Raw Story.
“It was irresponsible for Mike Johnson to keep House Republicans on a taxpayer-funded vacation for more than seven weeks and to castrate, you know, the House of Representatives as it relates to his majority. At the end of the day, we’re a separate and coequal branch of government,” Jeffries said, criticizing Johnson for adjourning the House during the longest government shutdown in modern history, which finally ended Wednesday night.
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