Press Releases
Speaker Johnson on Womack’s Comment from the Capitol: Democrats are Playing Politics
Washington,
October 3, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C.—October 3, 2025…In this week’s special edition of Comment from the Capitol (CFTC), Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) welcomed Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. The Speaker outlined the latest on the government shutdown—how we got here, what’s at stake, and what happens next.
“Well, because we don't really have much to negotiate. As you know, we sent over a clean, very simple, very small, 24-page continuing resolution to keep the government open. Why? So that leaders like you [Womack] can continue the appropriations process. […] We didn't load our CR up with partisan priorities or poison pills or gimmicks. So, I don't therefore have anything to bring to the table and say, ‘Oh gee guys, we'll pull back these Republican priorities. Would you vote for it now?’ They're voting to extend what you and I lament: Biden era policies and spending that they've already supported 13 times during the Biden administration, and now they're playing politics with it.” Does President Trump want the government shutdown? “No one's taken any pleasure in this. I can tell you the President does not want the government to be shut down. He said that to Chuck Schumer himself in the Oval Office five days ago when we were all sitting there together. He pleaded with him not to do this, and Chuck Schumer effectively said, ‘Oh yeah, well I'm going to do it anyway.’” Why isn’t the House in session during the shutdown? “First is that the House quite literally did our work. We passed that CR to keep the government open over two weeks ago, and now we need the Senate to do theirs. […] But the other is that when they decided to turn the lights off at the government, it really does affect the legislative branch as well, and there's not much really we can do until Chuck Schumer reopens the government, and I want maximum pressure to be applied for that because it's the right thing for the people.” Why didn’t we have a government shutdown when Joe Biden was President? “We didn't have a shutdown in the previous four years of the Biden administration. Why? Because you and I and Republicans, even when we were in the minority, we voted ultimately to keep the government open because we didn't want to hurt American citizens because of political games. Democrats are doing the opposite.” Can President Trump reduce the federal workforce during the shutdown? “Whomever is President in a scenario like this has an unenviable task because they've got to sit down—when the spigots are turned off effectively and the funds stop flowing— they've got to sit down and determine what are essential versus non-essential services. They have to make the same determinations with policy and personnel, and those are tough, tough choices. […] And the irony is that it is Chuck Schumer and the Blue State Democrats that put the President in that position. Why is it important that Congress appropriate in regular order? “The reason you do a budget and then you do this appropriations process, and you do all the hard work is because it's the only way to be a good steward of the precious resources of taxpayers. And when everything is crammed to the end of the year and put into these giant omnibus spending packages that are negotiated by four people in a back room, it's no way to run a railroad. And it's part of the reason you and I know that the country finds itself in this $37 trillion plus debt hole and this terrible trajectory we're on.” Listen to the rest of the episode HERE. CFTC is an audio segment produced by Congressman Womack during in-session weeks, where he gives a firsthand breakdown of the latest news from Washington. Whether it is insight on a policy battle, breakdown on legislative or committee work, or an interview with another member, the goal is to share information and give media an inside scoop on timely issues that they can share with their readers and viewers. Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) has represented Arkansas’s Third Congressional District since 2011. He is a member of the House Appropriations Committee. ### |
