WASHINGTON ― A army partner caller on C-SPAN pleaded with Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Thursday to go a invoice to make sure U.S. troops hold getting paid as the federal government shutdown drags on, condemning his “audacity” for saying he doesn’t assist doing it.
“As a Republican, I’m very disappointed in my party and I’m very disappointed in you,” a Virginia girl named Samantha fumed at Johnson, who fielded reside calls on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal. “Because you do have the power to call the House back. You did that ― or you refused to do that just for a show.”
Her feedback come a day after Johnson stated he doesn’t assist holding a standalone vote on army pay, as a result of doing so can be “dithering on show votes” as an alternative of specializing in ending the federal government shutdown. Curiously, the Home speaker flip-flopped on this subject inside the span of a day, as on Tuesday, he stated he was “certainly open” to passing a invoice to make sure troops don’t miss a paycheck.
Throughout her name, Samantha famous her voice was “very shaky” as a result of she is so upset concerning the anxious state of affairs her household is in. She stated she has “two medically fragile children” and that her husband has PTSD after two excursions in Afghanistan. She defined that if the shutdown isn’t resolved by Oct. 15, troops will miss their first paychecks and her youngsters can’t get the treatment they want “to live,” as she resides paycheck to paycheck.
“I’m begging you to pass this legislation. My kids could die. We don’t have the credit because of the medical bills that I have to pay regularly. You could stop this, you could be the one that could say, ‘Military is getting paid,’” she informed Johnson.
“The audacity of someone who makes six figures a year to do this to military families is insane,” Samantha added, earlier than being reduce off by the present host.
Johnson, who sat solemnly by way of her feedback, stated he was sorry about her state of affairs however nonetheless opposes passing a standalone invoice to guard army pay.
Lawmakers already took that vote, he stated, when the Home voted final month to go the GOP’s invoice to fund the federal government by way of Nov. 21. That invoice, which was put along with no Democratic enter and was handed nearly solely alongside celebration traces, didn’t go within the Senate, the place Democrats are refusing to assist any government-funding invoice that doesn’t additionally lengthen thousands and thousands of individuals’s well being care subsidies set to run out later this 12 months.
Kevin Dietsch through Getty Photographs
For some purpose, Johnson claimed that even when the Home did go a invoice to make sure troops hold getting paid, Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wouldn’t let it go.
“If we did another ― a vote on the floor to pay troops, it’s not a law-making exercise,” Johnson stated. “Because Chuck Schumer is gonna hold that up in the Senate.”
It’s not clear why Schumer or Senate Democrats would oppose doing this, because it doesn’t battle with their efforts to tie well being care protections to a government-funding invoice. A Schumer aide appeared confused by Johnson’s declare, saying: “We have no idea what Speaker Johnson is talking about.”
At a press convention later Thursday, Johnson introduced up Samantha’s feedback on C-SPAN and stated he shared her anger. However he conflated her anger at him for not holding a vote on army pay along with his said anger concerning the ongoing shutdown.
“One of the callers called in, she was so upset, she was a young military mother and she has two special needs children. She told her story in tears,” Johnson informed reporters. “She’s so angry, and so am I that their services are being delayed.”
In the meantime, Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has stated that he’s all for voting to guard army pay amid the shutdown.
“I believe that we should pay our men and women in uniform,” Jeffries stated at a Wednesday press convention. “I support the effort [by] our members to make sure that that takes place.”
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who stood alongside Jeffries and who served within the Air Power, referred to as it “insane” to not pay the troops throughout the shutdown.
“Some are in high-risk missions,” Lieu stated. “You want them thinking about whether they can get paid?”
Arthur Delaney contributed reporting.
