On the 27th day of the U.S. federal government shutdown, Speaker Mike Johnson held a press conference where he placed the blame squarely on the Democratic Party for perpetuating the funding freeze. He stated that “Day 27 means it’s almost been a full month since the Democrats shut down the government.” Johnson highlighted the hardships: 1.4 million federal workers missed a paycheck that week, including essential personnel such as TSA agents, air-traffic controllers, Border Patrol officers and members of the military.

Johnson emphasized that Republicans have repeatedly voted to reopen the government, but according to him they cannot do it alone because they lack the necessary Senate votes. “It’s a simple math problem. We need Democrats to help. You need 60 votes in the Senate. We only have 53 Republicans.”  He argued the Democratic caucus has repeatedly voted to keep the government shut and is instead focusing on unrelated policy demands.

Meanwhile, Johnson said the Republican-led House and the administration have tried to find internal funding solutions but are running out of options, and he accused Democrats of making demands he described as unacceptable—such as billions in health benefits for non-citizens and foreign programs. According to Johnson, Republicans will not agree to those terms and he framed the impasse as being due to Democratic intransigence.