House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Tuesday accused House Democrats of spreading "misinformation" about the GOP's six-month continuing resolution, saying claims of cuts to entitlement programs and veterans' benefits are "all a lie."
"If Congressional Democrats refuse to support this clean CR, they will be responsible for every troop who misses a paycheck, for every flight delay from reduced staffing at TSA, and for every negative consequence that comes from shutting down the government," Johnson said in a statement to Newsmax.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the top two Democrat appropriators, released a short-term funding bill Monday night, calling it an alternative to the House Republicans' CR, which would fund the government through September, reports Politico.
The two parties are facing a deadline this Friday at midnight to avoid a shutdown.
The Democrats' proposal calls for keeping the government running at its current funding levels for the next four weeks in hopes of finding more time to reach a bipartisan funding package.
"There is a very clear alternative to House Republicans' plan: immediately passing a short-term patch to prevent a senseless shutdown and finishing work on serious, bipartisan funding bills that invest in working Americans, keep our country safe and ensure our constituents have a say in how federal funding is spent," Murray and DeLauro said in a statement.
Johnson said Tuesday that Democrats, however, "either have an issue with reading comprehension or they are attempting to run one of the most shameful misinformation campaigns that we've ever seen in our lives."
The continuing resolution was filed on Saturday, he added, but "they had already come out panning the bill that literally had not yet been seen."
Johnson said that the Democrats accused Republicans of introducing a CR that threatens to cut funding for healthcare, food assistance programs and veterans' benefits until the end of the year.
"Every single word of that is a lie," he said. "They just made it up. They didn't read the bill. It's nonsense. People are not buying this."
Johnson added that the "clean CR" does not contain any "poison pill riders."
"No cuts to Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security," he insisted. "Zero. No cuts to veterans benefits. Zero. In fact, as was noted, we plus up the accounts for veterans."
The speaker also accused the media of "aiding and abetting" the Democrats in making "false, scurrilous claims" if reporters don't push back.
Democrats, Johnson said, have been heavily protesting President Donald Trump's efforts on government efficiency and now are "going to try to shut the government down."
"Every House Democrat will participate in this, it looks like," the speaker said. "That would be a shame."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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