Mike Johnson Claims He Doesn’t Want to Interrupt ‘Meaningful Work’ Lawmakers Are Doing in Their Districts

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) claimed Monday that he doesn’t want to call Republicans back to Washington, D.C. during the government shutdown because they’re doing “some of the most meaningful work” of their careers in their districts.

CNN’s Manu Raju asked Johnson, “Even during a government shutdown, House committees can still meet…So, why not do that, rather than have members back home in their districts? Why not bring them back to do the work they were elected to do?”

“So, we’re evaluating this day by day,” Johnson began at a press conference Monday morning. “The House did its work…and the most important thing is to get the government open. It’s the number-one priority and number-one responsibility of Congress, and the Senate Democrats have chosen not to do it.”

Johnson continued:

There is plenty of time the remainder of the calendar year to do all things that are the must-pass pieces of legislation and all the negotiations I referenced earlier today, and we are anxious to get everybody back to regular legislative session. But there cannot be a regular legislative session so long as the government is closed and Americans are feeling so much pain. We won’t do that.

Now, in the meantime, Republicans — I don’t know what the Democrats are doing other than publicity stunts — but I can tell you, the House Republicans are doing some of the most meaningful work of their careers. They are in their district working around the clock with their constituents, helping them to not only negotiate the crisis that’s been created by this Democrat shutdown, but all the other matters they need to attend to.

And I’m hearing from them individually, they are having some of the most meaningful interactions at a time of great crisis with their constituents they’ve ever had. And that’s really, really important. So, I don’t want to pull them away from that work right now when their insight and their counsel and their assistance…that is most essentially needed back home.

Federal workers, including air traffic controllers, have been working for nearly a month without pay. On Sunday, the Agriculture Department announced it was suspending food assistance to some 42 million Americans because “the well has run dry.”

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.