Mike Johnson Warns 'We're Barreling Toward' Longest Shutdown in History If Dems Don't Stop Partisan Games

On Day 13 of the Schumer Shutdown, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) tore into Democrats for what he called the party's ongoing "political games." If the party continues with the partisan shenanigans, Johnson warned at a Monday press conference, the shutdown could easily turn into the longest in the United States' history. He also noted the blatant hypocrisy being shown by many Congressional Democrats who have consistently voted against government shutdowns during their Capitol Hill careers.

Johnson got right to the point, saying, “We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history, unless Democrats dropped their partisan demands and passed a clean, no-strings-attached budget to reopen the government and pay our federal workers."

The longest shutdown of the federal government occurred during President Trump's first term and lasted 35 days. The second-longest shutdown happened during the Clinton administration -- that one dragged on for 21 days.

The Insidious Strategy Behind the Democrat-Led Shutdown

Johnson also lamented that, on a day when the world is rejoicing over President Trump's historic Middle East deal, Trump's own government is still shut down due to grandstanding by Senate Democrats.

As RedState has been reporting, a clean version of the continuing resolution (CR) passed the House of Representatives, but is being held up in the Senate by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his fellow Democrats. The CR requires 60 votes to pass in the Senate, but Republicans only have 53 seats.

Here's Johnson:

While the whole world celebrates the signing of President Trump’s historic deal for the Middle East…

The Democrats here in Congress are continuing to play ridiculous political games to keep our own government shut down.

In my daily update, I explained again the obvious,… pic.twitter.com/dc2FWe3dhp
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) October 13, 2025

"Ending this shutdown is not a one-party exercise. Republicans do have control of Congress, but it still takes 60 votes to pass a funding bill in the Senate. All of this is the way the founders intended the process to work," Speaker Johnson said. "Any Democrats who suggest otherwise are willfully misleading the American people."

Johnson also took a trip down memory lane, reading out a 2013 quote from then-President Obama: "There is one way out of this reckless and damaging Republican shutdown: Congress has to pass a budget that funds our government with no partisan strings attached."

As BARACK OBAMA said in 2013:
Members of Congress “don’t get to hold our democracy or our economy hostage over a settled law. That’s not how our democracy is supposed to work.”

That’s EXACTLY what DEMOCRATS are doing — holding the government hostage to FORCE backroom deals.… pic.twitter.com/u5MWHdjU7M
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) October 13, 2025

"What I just read was a direct quote. Those are not my words. They belong to President Barack Obama. He was speaking there in 2013 when our government was shut down for 16 days. This would be the third-longest government shutdown in American history, that one would be."

Added Johnson, "If Democrats keep up their obstruction here today, that's where we're going to be headed."

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Speaker Johnson encouraged Congressional leaders to get back to the bargaining table, something Democrats seem loath to do until after this weekend's planned "No Kings" protests.

"Republicans are eager to return to the actual negotiating table to finish out full year appropriations and do work on all the other matters before us," said Johnson. "But we won't negotiate in smoke-filled back rooms, and we won't negotiate as hostages."

Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.

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