WASHINGTON—House Democrats were on Capitol Hill in full force this week to address the shutdown, pressure Republicans to vote on health care and swear in Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz).
More than half of the House Democratic Caucus were involved in press events, protests and meetings throughout the week, despite House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) keeping the House out of session.
“We are open to sitting down, anytime, anyplace, with anyone in terms of our Republican colleagues, either here at Capitol, or back in the Oval Office to have a conversation about finding a bipartisan path forward,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), said in a press conference on Tuesday, adding “but there has to be willingness among Republicans to actually have a conversation.”
Earlier in the week, Johnson said that keeping the House out of session had wide support within his party.
“I’ve heard criticism from, I think, three members on our conference call…you can poll individual House Republicans, and 98.7% of them will tell you that this is the right thing,” he said.
Johnson also suggested that an end to the shutdown was not entirely contingent on Republicans willing to compromise, adding that Democrats were blocking the Senate GOP’s attempts to pass a funding resolution.
“Republicans do have control of Congress, quote unquote, but it’s 60 votes to pass a funding bill. All of this is the way the Founders intended the process to work,” Johnson said.
Democrats are refusing to vote on a continuing resolution to fund the government because they want Congress to deal with funding cuts to health care and rising premiums on the Affordable Care Act.
GOP leadership claims that the health care funding Democrats seek will go to pay for care for undocumented immigrants, at the expense of American citizens.
“How many times will you vote to put illegals first and Americans last?” Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), Chairwoman of the Republican Conference, said on Oct. 8, addressing Democrats. “The answer to that question is, as long as the radical base keeps calling the shots,” she added.
People in the U.S. illegally are not eligible for any federal health care programs including insurance through the Affordable Care Act or through Medicaid. Some federal funds do go to hospitals, which are required to treat everyone regardless of citizenship status.
On Wednesday, Jeffries and an energized House Democratic Caucus held a caucus-wide press conference at the Capitol steps to urge their Republican colleagues to address health care disparities.
Meanwhile, Democrats are expressing frustration that Johnson is keeping the House out of session.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) believes that Johnson is reluctant to bring the House back without the support of President Trump.
“It would take the president telling him that he has permission, because the Speaker has forgotten that we are co-equal branches of government, and he only does what the President allows him to,” she told Medill News Service.
Grijalva at a House Hispanic Caucus press conference on her delayed swearing-in.(Gabe Hawkins/MNS)
In addition to seeking an end to the shutdown and a bipartisan agreement on health care subsidies, Democrats are also calling for the swearing in of Arizona Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election in September but has yet to be sworn into office.
Johnson has stated that he is willing to swear Grijalva in, but is waiting for the shutdown to end and an opportunity for Grijalva’s family to be in attendance.
“Speaker Johnson has falsely cited procedures. He’s falsely cited precedent, and he’s citing the courtesy of pomp and circumstance. Give me a break. That’s not courtesy, that’s condescending to Adelita Grijalva and to the people of Southern Arizona,” Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) said Tuesday morning.
A group of House Democrats protested the delayed swearing-in in front of Johnson’s office, chanting “swear her in.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) says she suspects Johnson is using the government shutdown as an avenue to stall Grijalva’s swearing in, as hers would be the final vote needed to file a motion to release the Epstein files.
“He’s clearly so afraid of the Epstein files that the 218th signature is terrifying for him, because the Justice Department would actually have to release all the files, not just the ones that they want to release,” she told Medill News Service.
Grijalva says Johnson’s refusal to swear her in reflects poorly on the Speaker and the Republican party.
“There is just a list of excuses as to why I’m not getting sworn in. None of them hold water when you compare what’s happened with the three other people that he’s sworn in this year,” she told Medill News Service.
With no immediate end to the shutdown in sight, Democrats continue to press for Republicans to address health care costs in the CR to fund the government, while Republicans argue that prolonging the shutdown over health care funding is harming Americans.
