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   an.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: sac.politics, talk.politics.guns   
   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   Democrats railed against House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Friday   
   after he cancelled yet another week of House votes amid the ongoing   
   government shutdown.   
      
   Why it matters: The move comes just as the shutdown is ratcheting up in   
   severity, with the Trump administration announcing layoffs and military   
   service members set to miss their first paycheck on Oct. 15.   
      
   Johnson said earlier this week that there would be no standalone vote on   
   paying the troops, saying the House has already done its work by passing a   
   stopgap spending bill last month that includes troop pay.   
   "Hakeem Jeffries and the House Democrats ... are clamoring to get back   
   here and have another vote, because some of them want to get on record and   
   say they're for paying the troops. We already had that vote," he said.   
   Driving the news: Johnson announced Friday in a notice to the House Clerk   
   that votes planned between next Tuesday and Friday are being cancelled.   
      
   That means the House will not return to session until Oct. 20 at the   
   earliest.   
   Johnson has said the House will only come back once the Senate passes   
   House Republicans' spending bill.   
   What they're saying: "Republicans in the House have decided to remain on   
   vacation," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters   
   on Friday.   
      
   "They canceled votes last week, they canceled votes this week and now   
   they've canceled votes next week. They're not serious about reopening the   
   government," he said.   
   House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) said in a statement"   
   "Showing up for work and helping constituents is not for 'show,' as Mike   
   Johnson likes to say."   
   "The government is shutdown and Johnson wants his members on vacation.   
   It's disgraceful," said Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.).   
   "It would be one thing if they were talking to people back home," Rep. Jim   
   McGovern (D-Mass.) told Axios. "But they said they'll do town halls when   
   hell freezes over. Who's writing their talking points — Marie Antoinette?"   
   The latest: Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.) tried unsuccessfully during a brief   
   pro forma session on Friday to pass House Democrats' bill to ensure troop   
   pay during the shutdown.   
      
   Elfreth sought to be recognized to pass the bill by unanimous consent, but   
   Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) ignored her and gaveled the House out of session.   
   "I'm here, I know a number of my colleagues are here, ready and willing to   
   take that up if we can't reach a bipartisan deal on the budget. So that's   
   what I tried to do," she told reporters afterwards.   
   Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), in a post on X, also proposed a change to   
   House rules requiring the chamber to remain in session as long as there is   
   a government shutdown.   
   Zoom in: Members of Congress from near Washington, D.C., who represent   
   huge swaths of the federal workforce, are particularly perturbed.   
      
   Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.), in a letter to Johnson, wrote that she is   
   "extremely concerned" he cancelled votes next week, citing "very real   
   consequences for working families in my state of Delaware, your state of   
   Louisiana, and across the country."   
   "Speaker Johnson's decision hurts the thousands of military   
   servicemembers, contractors, and federal workers in my district who   
   continue to show up to work while they aren't paid," said Rep. Suhas   
   Subramanyam (D-Va.).   
   Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) said in a statement: "Servicemembers and   
   federal employees face missed paychecks while families face skyrocketing   
   health care premiums — and Speaker Johnson just canceled votes again ...   
   They should be ashamed."   
   What to watch: Jeffries, on a virtual caucus call, told his members to   
   return to Washington next week after largely letting them remain in their   
   districts this past week, according to several sources on the call.   
      
   House Democrats are scheduled to have an in-person caucus meeting at the   
   Capitol on Tuesday evening, the leader said, with events on Capitol Hill   
   the following day.   
   Jeffries also highlighted polling that shows Republicans getting blamed   
   for the shutdown, sources said — a sign that Democrats are nowhere near   
   budging.   
   "Everyone knows Democrats are taking a principled stand here," Rep. Jared   
   Huffman (D-Calif.) told Axios. "Johnson is afraid that his members will   
   turn on him if they come back to town."   
      
   https://www.axios.com/2025/10/10/democrats-house-mike-johnson-votes-   
   shutdown   
      
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