House Republicans Plan to Stay Away from DC During Shutdown

House Republican leaders told their members on a conference call Saturday that they plan to stay away from Washington while the government is shut down.

“The message was very simple, the House has done its work,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota said in an interview Saturday on Fox News. “House Republicans are ready to get back to work and finish the people’s business as soon as Chuck Schumer and Democrats in the Senate reopen the government.”

Speaker Mike Johnson already announced Friday that the chamber will not return to Washington next week, escalating his strategy to try to force Senate Democrats into passing the GOP-written stopgap measure and reopen the government without a deal on health-care subsidies.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, right, speaks during a news conference in Statuary Hall at the US Capitol on Oct. 3.

Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg

It’s the second time the Louisiana Republican has moved to keep lawmakers out of town, having earlier canceled planned votes on Sept. 29 and 30.

Earlier Saturday, the House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted Republicans in an interview on MSNBC for going “on vacation” instead of negotiating a deal to prevent tens of millions from seeing massive increases in their health-care premiums.

“This administration is trying to bully us and we’re not going to be bullied,” he said. “There is unity in the House, in the Senate, amongst Democats, that this issue has to be addressed.”

Representative Hakeem Jeffries speaks during a news conference at the US Capitol on Oct. 3.

Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg

Prospects of a deal in the Senate anytime soon appear remote. Senators threw cold water on the potential for an imminent agreement before leaving town for the weekend on Friday.

“I thought we were getting close on reopening the government, but it appears we’re not,” said Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican and chair of the Appropriations Committee.

Republican Senator Mike Rounds signaled it might be helpful for negotiations that House lawmakers stay away.

“At that point you got those folks back in, you’ve got 435 members now all angry on both sides,” Rounds, who represents South Dakota, said Friday before Johnson announced the House would not return next week.

--With assistance from Caitlin Reilly.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Alicia Diaz in Washington at adiaz243@bloomberg.net;
Steven T. Dennis in Washington at sdennis17@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Megan Scully at mscully32@bloomberg.net

Se Young Lee, Wendy Benjaminson

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