Johnson blasts Democrat ‘Marxists’ as they vote down GOP shutdown bill a 10th time
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Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., accused the Democratic Party of being taken over by far-left “Marxists” on the 16th day of the federal government shutdown.
The House leader was visibly frustrated when he spoke to reporters Thursday, accusing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-R.) and other Democratic leaders of prolonging the fiscal standoff for political gain.
“This isn’t your grandfather’s Democratic Party. It’s really been the far left, the Marxist left, that’s been running the whole operation. And that has real effects on real people,” Johnson said.
Senate Democrats rejected Republicans’ federal funding plan 10 times.
JOHNSON INCREASED GOVERNMENT’S RISKS TOWARD SCHUMER WITH AIM TO CLOSE IT DOWN IN WEEK 3
Speaker Mike Johnson canceled House votes for the third week in a row in an effort to put pressure on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer during the government shutdown. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo; Allison Robbert/AP Photo)
Republicans last month put forward a seven-week extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding levels, called a continuing resolution (CR), aimed at giving congressional negotiators more time to reach a long-term agreement for Fiscal Year 2026.
But Democrats in the House and Senate were outraged at being sidelined in those talks. Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DY) said their caucus will not accept any deal that doesn’t include serious health care concessions, at least extending Obamacare Covid-19 pandemic-era subsidies that expire at the end of this year.
Johnson and Republicans accused Schumer of bowing to pressure from progressives after playing a key role in helping the same funding bill pass the Senate in March and averting a shutdown earlier this year. This move caused Schumer to face attacks from the left wing.
SCREAMING MATCH BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES AND MIKE LAWLER IS AIRING AS THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES
Senator Majority Leader John Thune speaks with reporters near his office on Capitol Hill in Washington on September 18, 2025. (Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo)
“The only explanation for this is that Chuck Schumer doesn’t want to face the pressure, scrutiny, and harassment he received from far-left voices in his party in March for doing the right and responsible thing,” Johnson said.
“The voice of the party” is Democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. and progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. and New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
“Look, Mamdani is shockingly, sadly and frighteningly on track to become the elected mayor of America’s greatest city, once the cradle of capitalism. There is a Marxist ascendancy in the Democratic Party,” Johnson said.
“The old guard — and I say old guard, Chuck Schumer has been here for 44 years — he’s not the man of the month, and he knows he’s going to face a challenge. If it’s not AOC, it’ll be another student of Mamdani’s or someone like that.”
New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during an interview on “The Martha MacCallum Story” on Fox News on October 15, 2025 in New York City. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
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He said Democrats “must defend the ideas on the far left at the moment, socialism, communism, Marxism, in order to be on the side of the Democratic Party.”
Schumer also criticized Johnson for his decision to keep the House of Representatives in recess while the fiscal recession in the Senate continues.
“Republican leaders, particularly Speaker Johnson, continue to investigate the issue. The Speaker kept House Republicans on recess for three weeks as if they could make the problem go away by letting House Republicans hide. Yes, the American people have no time for Republican inaction,” Schumer said in a statement Wednesday. said Schumer on Wednesday.
