This is an adapted excerpt from the Oct. 7 episode of “Morning Joe.”
Speaker Mike Johnson has canceled all votes in the House this week, insisting the lower chamber “did its job” in funding the government, and he placed blame for the continuing shutdown squarely on Senate Democrats.
“The reason that House Republicans are home working in their districts — and I suspect House Democrats should be as well — is because we did that [job],” Johnson said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
But the idea that Johnson is keeping lawmakers out of town simply because there’s no work to do in Washington isn’t true. It’s clear the speaker just doesn’t want House members around — and there are a few reasons why.
One of those reasons is to further delay the long-awaited vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. Johnson seems to be doing everything in his power to stall that motion, refusing to seat Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who would be the final signature needed on the discharge petition to get that vote on the floor.
But I’m starting to think there’s something else at play here. Johnson is working with a razor-thin majority in the House — and a lot of Republicans represent districts where their constituents are going to start feeling the pain of this shutdown.
Some members of Johnson’s caucus are already starting to break. On Monday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia sided with Democrats over the extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies. Democrats have demanded that any funding bill include the expansion of those benefits, along with the reversal of the deep Medicaid cuts packed into Donald Trump’s budget bill earlier this year.
“I’m absolutely disgusted that health insurance premiums will DOUBLE if the tax credits expire this year,” Greene wrote on X. “Not a single Republican in leadership talked to us about this or has given us a plan to help Americans deal with their health insurance premiums DOUBLING!!!”
Greene’s district includes Dalton, Georgia — a place I know very well. As a kid, I spent all my summers up there with my grandmom. So I know if you cut health care funding in Dalton, you’re going to have a lot of rural hospitals hurting, you’re going to have a lot of nursing homes hurting, and you’re going to have a lot of young Georgians not getting the care they need. Greene’s district isn’t unique. Across the country, Republicans know their voters will suffer. Even if their constituents do not depend directly on Medicaid, without proper federal funding, hospitals and health care facilities will have to fire staff and communities will be left with substandard care. This is bad news for Republicans. From my time serving in the House, I know how this works. They will have hospital administrators calling up their offices and laying out just how devastating the consequences of these cuts will be. The longer this shutdown goes on, the weaker House Republicans’ position gets. There is no stronger argument I can think of in American politics than telling voters one party is slashing their children’s and parents’ health care to pay for tax cuts for the rich. Greene may be the first to break, but I don’t believe she will be the last. That is why Johnson doesn’t want Republicans in town.
Former Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., is co-host of MS NOW's "Morning Joe" alongside Mika Brzezinski — a show that Time magazine calls "revolutionary." In addition to his career in television, Joe is a two-time New York Times best-selling author. His most recent book is "The Right Path: From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once Mastered Politics — and Can Again."
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
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