U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) and U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
Tom Williams | Michael A. McCoy | Reuters
Top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries challenged Speaker Mike Johnson to a live public debate about the government shutdown, which entered its sixth day on Monday with no off-ramp in sight.
But the Republican leader quickly brushed off Jeffries’ request, accusing the New York lawmaker of making “desperate pleas for attention.”
In a letter to Johnson, Jeffries told the Louisiana Republican that he is game to debate on the House floor “any day this week in primetime, broadcast live to the American people.”
“Given the urgency of the moment and the Republican refusal to negotiate a bipartisan agreement, a debate on the House Floor will provide the American people with the transparency they deserve,” Jeffries wrote.
“It will also give you an opportunity to explain your my way or the highway approach to shutting the government down, when Democratic votes are needed to resolve the impasse that exists,” he wrote.
Johnson, at a news conference later Monday morning, accused Jeffries of issuing the debate challenge in desperation because of unfavorable polling on Democrats’ shutdown messaging.
But multiple recent polls show Americans are more likely to blame the shutdown on President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans, who hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, than on Democrats.
Johnson said lawmakers previously debated on the House floor before passing a Republican-proposed stopgap funding measure, which has so far failed to pass in the Senate.
“I’m not going to let Hakeem try to pretend for these theatrics,” Johnson said, adding, “We all know what he’s trying to do.”
The House is out of session this week.
The Senate is set to vote again on Republicans’ stopgap, which would resume funding at current levels through Nov. 21, and Democrats’ alternative, which includes additional health-care funding and other measures, after 5:30 p.m. ET.
Those same funding bills have already failed multiple times to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome the Senate filibuster. The latest attempts are also expected not to succeed.
— CNBC’s Erin Doherty contributed to this report.
