‘I Reject the Premise!’ Mike Johnson Brawls With CNN’s Dana Bash Over Government Shutdown

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) hit back at CNN’s Dana Bash during a grilling over the ongoing government shutdown on Thursday

Johnson joined Bash on Inside Politics, where he placed all of the blame for the shutdown on Democrats, and said there will be no compromises unless the full, “clean” continuing resolution favored by Republicans is passed.

Democrats are currently at a standstill with Republicans over government funding, demanding that their support for the CR be tied to an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies. The shutdown has lasted 30 days, and the food assistance program SNAP will run out of funds by November 1.

Bash made note of bipartisan calls to fund SNAP, and asked Johnson whether it was an “all or nothing” strategy for Republicans.

“So just to put a pin in it, all or nothing, full government funding for the entire government or you’re not going to bring anything up on the House floor even if the Senate finds some sort of compromise,” she asked.

“Yes because they’re trying to play games and we’re not interested in doing that. That’s the position of Republican leadership in the Senate and the House and the White House as well. We have to do well and right by all the American people,” Johnson said.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has introduced legislation that would fund SNAP, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (R-NY) said Democrats would support the bill if it was brought to the floor.

Johnson “rejected the premise” of Bash’s question after she asked why the millions who might soon lose food aid do not motivate Congress to act. The Speaker claimed he can’t legally approve contingency funds without prior approval of Congress, something Bash noted Democrats have rejected.

“You all have found ways to pay members of the military, which people understand, and WIC, which also people understand. But why are you drawing the line now on 40 million Americans who literally will not be able to eat without government assistance? Why not help them in the short term?” Bash asked.

“Wait a minute, wait, I reject the premise of the question,” Johnson shot back. “I’m not drawing the line. The Democrats are drawing the lines. If we had a contingency fund that we could use, that would be done. The White House has demonstrated over and over, the executive branch, all the cabinet secretaries are doing everything they can to mitigate and reduce the pain. But that ability is not available for SNAP because the contingency funds had to be prior author authorized by Congress.”

Check out the exchange below:

DANA BASH: So just to put a pin in it, all or nothing, full government funding for the entire government or you’re not going to bring anything up on the House floor even if the Senate finds some sort of compromise?

MIKE JOHNSON: Yes because they’re trying to play games and we’re not interested in doing that. That’s the position of Republican leadership in the Senate and the House and the White House as well. We have to do well and right by all the American people and we need to do it now.

BASH: Can I just ask you, because you mentioned it, that you all have found ways to pay members of the military, which people understand, and WIC, which also people understand. But why are you drawing the line now on 40 million Americans who literally will not be able to eat without government assistance? Why not help them in the short term?

JOHNSON: Wait a minute, wait, I reject the premise of the question. I’m not drawing the line. The Democrats are drawing the lines. If we had a contingency fund that we could use, that would be done. The White House has demonstrated over and over, the executive branch, all the cabinet secretaries are doing everything they can to mitigate and reduce the pain. But that ability is not available for SNAP because the contingency funds had to be prior author authorized by Congress.

BASH: Well, they say that that’s not what the law shows, and certainly the administration has shown that they are very happy to move money around without Congress saying yes.

JOHNSON: No, Dana, it’s just simply not true. It’s already been adjudicated. When they tried to do that in the first Trump administration, the GAO [Government Accountability Office], for example, determined it was illegal. And the Democrats, when they voted against the clean CR, they voted down that possibility. So it is not legally available to do that. Believe me, the White House has already demonstrated over and over they would use it if it was available. It’s not. The Democrats have put the American people in this crisis, and they are the ones that have the power to end it. They could do it today if they feel enough pressure to do so.

Watch above via CNN.

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