Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) fired back at House Speaker Mike Johnson’s claims that Democrats are trying to shut down the government and that the GOP’s funding bill won’t cut programs like Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security.
During an appearance on CNN Tuesday, Crockett responded to Johnson’s earlier press conference where he blamed Democrats for “trying to shut down the government” and accused them of “lying” about the cuts.
“You heard the House Speaker,” CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer said. “He’s blaming Democrats, people like you, if this continuing resolution is defeated in the House later today.”
Crockett quickly pushed back. “He can’t blame me for not wanting to be his doormat, or for Democrats not wanting to be their doormat,” she told Blitzer. “I have a mandate from my district, and it doesn’t involve cutting Medicaid or Medicare.”
She also pointed out that Republicans were ignoring the impact of the bill on veterans, noting that many of them would lose critical care under the proposed funding plan.
“I don’t want the government to shut down,” Crockett added. “This president has been trying to dismantle the government, and I haven’t heard a word from them about it.”
Crockett also criticized the GOP’s handling of the budget. “They’re giving more latitude for spending, which turns it into a slush fund for people like Elon Musk and Donald Trump. They’ve removed the restrictions that would normally guide how money is spent, and now most of the discretion goes to them,” she said. “The last resolution had 2800 pages of spending rules. This one has only 88 pages.”
She went on to remind Blitzer that the previous continuing resolution was blocked because of Elon Musk’s involvement and his influence over the process.
“If they want to negotiate in good faith, they need to get their own house in order,” she said. “They can’t just come to us and say, ‘Take this,’ and expect us to accept it.”
Crockett also clarified that this bill isn’t a true stopgap. “For everyone at home, our bills are for one year, from September to September,” she explained. “This isn’t a stopgap. They’ve failed to pass their own appropriations bills for the entire year, and now they want to stretch this out until September.”
Johnson had announced a vote on the “clean” funding bill that supposedly wouldn’t include cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security. However, Crockett argued the Republicans aren’t being honest. “They’ve passed a budget resolution that will eventually require cuts to these programs,” she said. “But they haven’t even passed the necessary bills to make it happen yet.”
Crockett pointed out that the GOP hasn’t passed any of the 12 appropriations bills, which are needed to determine how specific programs will be funded. Without them, future cuts remain on the table.
Watch the full exchange from CNN below:
