Share and Follow
On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) disclosed that among the demands from Democrats to end the government shutdown is a request for $3.9 million in funding for LGBTQI+ democracy grants in the Western Balkans. This revelation comes as the shutdown reaches its 14th day, amid ongoing political tensions.
As the shutdown enters its second week, Johnson criticized Democrats for allegedly causing unnecessary pain to the American public. He accused them of leveraging the shutdown for political gain, saying, “Democrats in Congress are inflicting untold pain on the American people for nothing other than pure politics.” Johnson reiterated that his party had offered a straightforward continuing resolution to maintain government operations, which Democrats have repeatedly rejected, despite previously supporting similar measures.
Johnson further alleged that Democrats are using the shutdown as leverage to push for changes in healthcare policy, a separate issue that he argues should not be conflated with the current budgetary disagreement. He suggested that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is under pressure to satisfy more radical elements within his party.
In an effort to shed light on the Democrats’ counterproposal, Johnson detailed some of their spending requests, which he described as excessive. He pointed out that the proposal includes $1.5 trillion in new spending, funded by taxpayers, and highlighted specific allocations such as half a billion dollars to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and up to $5 billion for international projects. Johnson’s remarks aim to portray the Democrats’ demands as extravagant and misaligned with taxpayer interests.
“They would send a half a billion dollars to liberal news outlets by refunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It would also restore up to $5 billion of American taxpayer funds for wasteful spending for international projects,” he said, providing specific examples.
“Here’s a couple of examples. This is in their legislation, their counter proposal on the CR to keep the lights open, this is what they want to do. They want to spend 24.6 million of your hard-earned dollars as a taxpayer for climate resilience in Honduras,” Johnson revealed.
“They want to spend 13.4 million for civic engagement in Zimbabwe. They want to send 3.9 million for LGBTQI+ democracy grants [in] the Western Balkans. They want to spend 2.9 million of your dollars for desert locust risk reduction in the Horn of Africa and two million for, quote, ‘organizing for feminist democratic principles in Africa,’” he said.
“We are not doing that,” Johnson made clear.
Johnson said their proposal would also “reverse common sense reforms that Republicans made in the Working Families Tax Cut [Act] that keep illegal aliens off taxpayer funded-health care. This is a fact. … They would add the illegal aliens, non-citizens, back to taxpayer-funded benefits. It would cost taxpayers nearly $200 billion. They would also remove a very reasonable — reasonable and moderate — modest work requirement that we put on able-bodied young men with no dependents,” he said, noting it would also make COVID-era Obamacare subsidies permanent “without any income caps or any other reforms at all.”
WATCH the full presser below:
