House Republican Tells Colleagues ‘We Need To Be Big Boys’ and ‘Girls’ and Avoid Shutdown After Trump Says ‘Let It Begin’
Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) admitted on Friday there may be a brief “technical shutdown” as the House continued to scramble to pass a spending bill.
The initial bipartisan deal negotiated by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was opposed by both President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, with Johnson saying Musk was communicating with him directly about his dissatisfaction with the bill. A second shorter bill, which included Trump’s demand to temporarily lift the debt ceiling, was supported by Trump and Musk, but it also failed to pass with dozens of Republican lawmakers opposing it.
Johnson spoke with MSNBC’s Ali Vitali on Friday shortly after a meeting with Johnson and other GOP lawmakers. He expressed hope that a government shutdown will be avoided, saying “options” are being discussed, including splitting the spending bill into multiple votes.
After the failure of the second vote, Trump took to Truth Social and told President Joe Biden the budget chaos was his “problem” and if there was going to be a government shutdown, “let it begin now.”
“If there is going to be a shutdown of the government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under ‘TRUMP,'” he wrote. “This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!”
Johnson told his colleagues they need to be “big boys” and “big girls” and get these negotiations done.
He said:
I’ve already said we shouldn’t be shutting down the government. If it was a tactic that works, if it was the kind of thing that we could use effectively to get rid of this ridiculous $2 trillion deficit that we’re running, then I would say shut it down too. But the reality is it hurts real people and it also doesn’t work. Shutdowns have never been a meaningful tool for leverage. So what do we have to do? We have to be big boys and big girls. We do need to transform how we spend money in this town. We do need to avoid some of these dumpster fire fiscal cliff tactics. We are trying to get done in that room as a team.
Johnson added that Trump’s tactics can make people “uncomfortable,” but he called him a “force of nature” and said he’s heavily involved in trying to make an agreement happen.
“Trump is really involved in making sure we get the right thing done. I get it. He has a different way of doing business. That makes some people uncomfortable. The reality is he’s a force of nature. Now it is at times a disruptive force of nature,” he said.
Vitali and MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing also pressed Johnson about Musk’s involvement. A number of Democrats have taken to calling Musk a “shadow president” of sorts considering his direct involvement in negotiations.
“You have someone who is a brilliant disruptor and innovator, that is a voice willing to hear from. We should be willing to hear from. Does anybody here work for Elon Musk? No,” Johnson said.
“Do you think he knows that?” Vitali asked.
“We work for the Constitution and we work for the citizens who send us here. And Elon Musk, I want the input from any American who thinks they know how to build a better mouse trap. We will be better because of the ideas that Elon and [Vivek Ramaswamy] extend,” Johnson said. “But it is brainstorming and not every idea out of a brainstorm is a good idea.”
Watch above via MSNBC.
