House speaker Mike Johnson accuses Democrats of ‘political theater’ as shutdown enters day nine – US politics live | US politics
On ninth day of government shutdown, Johnson says Democrats are performing ‘political theater’
As the government shutdown enters its ninth day, Mike Johnson continued to blame Democratic lawmakers for the lapse in funding.
“It’s political theater to them. They’ve reduced Americans pain to a political problem,” Johnson said, while chiding Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, for a remark he made in an interview with Punchbowl News. “He says, quote, ‘every day of the shutdown gets better for us’. What the heck is he talking about?”
Johnson noted that he spoke to Donald Trump on Wednesday night, following the news of the first phase of the peace deal in Gaza: “He and I both lament, we all do, this terrible situation that we’re in while we’re working to do all these positive things for the people and even settle conflicts around the world.”
Key events
Soon, we’ll hear from Donald Trump at his eighth cabinet meeting since he returned to office. We’ll bring you the latest lines as they come through.
Per my last post, members of the military stand to miss their next paycheck on 15 October if a funding bill isn’t passed, or lawmakers don’t pass a stand alone bill to ensure service members are paid during the shutdown.
Johnson sidesteps question about stand alone bill to keep military paid, blaming Democrats
When asked about passing a stand alone bill to keep members of the military paid, Johnson was evasive today, suggesting it was off the table. He added that separate legislation wouldn’t be needed if Senate Democrats advance the House-passed funding bill.
“We sent a totally clean document over there, because we’re operating in good faith,” Johnson said. “We put that bill on the floor, and the Republicans voted to pay the troops. TSA, agent, border patrol, air traffic control, everybody else. The Democrats voted no.”
On ninth day of government shutdown, Johnson says Democrats are performing ‘political theater’
As the government shutdown enters its ninth day, Mike Johnson continued to blame Democratic lawmakers for the lapse in funding.
“It’s political theater to them. They’ve reduced Americans pain to a political problem,” Johnson said, while chiding Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, for a remark he made in an interview with Punchbowl News. “He says, quote, ‘every day of the shutdown gets better for us’. What the heck is he talking about?”
Johnson noted that he spoke to Donald Trump on Wednesday night, following the news of the first phase of the peace deal in Gaza: “He and I both lament, we all do, this terrible situation that we’re in while we’re working to do all these positive things for the people and even settle conflicts around the world.”
Johnson says initial phase of Gaza deal ‘will achieve incredible results’
House speaker Mike Johnson is speaking at a press conference at the US Capitol, and spent his opening remarks praising the Trump administration for brokering the first phase of the Israel-Hamas peace deal, which includes the release of all Israeli hostages, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the withdrawal of Israel’s military from the territory.
“He’s going to bring peace and security back to Israel and truly lay the foundation for a lasting peace in the Middle East,” Johnson said. “This is a goal and an objective that’s been stated by presidents and politicians and policymakers and people around the globe for generations. President Trump has the strength and the vision and the resolve to do it.”
Andrew Roth
For Donald Trump, a peace deal – or even a durable ceasefire between Israel and Hamas – could be the biggest diplomatic achievement of his presidency.
The details and sequencing of a deal to end Israel’s war in Gaza remain murky but the statement of purpose by both Israel and Hamas is meaningful. In agreeing to a deal with political backing from Arab states and other regional powers, this is the best chance for an end to the war since a ceasefire broke down in March, returning Gaza to a grinding war that has left nearly 68,000 people dead, most of them civilians.
Since March there have been rumblings of a deal but nothing that has come this close. The first phase of the peace plan, as Trump called it in a Truth Social post on Wednesday, is straightforward: the return of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a limited withdrawal by the Israeli military. But finding all the hostages, and managing an Israeli withdrawal, could be complicated.
In keeping with the tone of Trump’s presidency, hopes are expressed in hyperbole, with the president saying: “ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. All Parties will be treated fairly!”
There is so much left to be discussed. The 20-point peace plan proposed by the administration attempts to thread the needle between creating the conditions for a ceasefire and negotiating a lasting end to the war; the hard questions of Hamas’s future and whether the militant group will disarm, along with Israel’s vision for the future of Gaza, remain to be hammered out.
Read more of Andrew’s analysis here.
On that note, in a short while we’ll hear from Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. He’ll hold a press conference at the Capitol at 10am EST on the ongoing shutdown.
As shutdown enters ninth day, top House Democrat says that party is ‘totally aligned’
In an interview with CNN today, Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, said that “House and Senate Democrats have been completely aligned, and Senate Democrats continue to hold the line in a strong and principled way on behalf of the American people”.
The GOP-written stopgap funding bill failed for the sixth time to clear the upper chamber on Wednesday, while both parties continue to blame the other for the government shutdown.
Democrats have been resolute that health care provisions – including the extension of ACA subsidies – must be part of any short-term funding patch, while Republicans want to pass a “clean” bill that keeps the government funded, as is, until 21 November.
“Isn’t it reasonable for working-class Americans, for middle class Americans, for everyday Americans who are facing the possibility of dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles. We’re talking about thousands of dollars per year in additional health care costs. Isn’t it reasonable for them to have a similar level of certainty in their lives,” Jeffries added.
The president has spent much of Thursday morning thanking his allies on Truth social for praising his diplomatic efforts in Gaza.
“I would like to thank Republican Congressman Brian Mast, of Florida, for his brilliant words and analysis on the return of the Hostages, and Peace in the Middle East, this morning on Fox & Friends. Thank you Brian!!!,” Trump wrote in a post.
He went on to congratulate Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel: “He worked so hard, and did so much, to bring about Peace in the Middle East. He has very quickly become a Great Man. Thank you Mike!”
The president will likely take an extended victory lap at today’s cabinet meeting, which we’ll be covering as it happens.
A reminder that my colleagues are bringing you the latest developments, as more details emerge from the first phase of the peace plan in Gaza.
The Guardian’s William Christou is reporting from Israel, and notes that mood is “festive” in the Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square since the news broke that Israel and Hamas signed a deal which would see the 20 remaining living hostages held in Gaza returned in 72 hours – with the remains of 28 repatriated as soon possible.
In return, nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners would be released from Israeli jails and Israeli troops would withdraw from 47% of the Gaza strip.
You can follow along here below.
We’ll hear from Donald Trump at 11am EST today, when he hosts a cabinet meeting at the White House. We can expect to hear more about the first phase of the peace plan, but also some more reaction to national guard troops deployed to Chicago.
The president’s last cabinet meeting went on for more than three hours…so we’re buckled in.
Later today, Trump will welcome Finland’s prime minister, Alexander Stubb, to the White House. We’ll bring you the latest lines from that meeting.
In between both of those events in Washington, there will be two hearings in federal courts across the country, to determine if troops in Portland and Chicago are able to stay put.
Shrai Popat
A group of Republicans in Pennsylvania are relaunching their efforts to unseat Congressman Scott Perry, the fervent Trump ally who represents the state’s 10th congressional district, according to plans first provided to the Guardian.
The “Republicans Against Perry” (Rap) group began in late 2023, backing the congressman’s Democratic opponent, Janelle Stelson, who ended up losing by less than two points in the 2024 election. Now, Rap is restarting their grassroots campaign on Thursday, which includes a slew of electronic billboards throughout the district.
With Republicans’ razor-thin margin in the House, the seat will be one to watch closely in the midterm elections. Politics PA called Perry’s seat the most vulnerable of the 2026 congressional races they are watching.
While Rap is backed by the WelcomePac, which focuses its support for Democratic candidates, the group is not throwing its weight behind any candidate challenging Perry just yet. “It’s premature to make a sort of final determination,” said Craig Snyder, a Pennsylvania-based Republican organizer who is running the campaign. “Our reason for being is to defeat Scott Perry, and if that does not happen in the primary, then we are very, very likely to support the Democratic nominee.”
Stelson, a former local news anchor, has announced her bid to run for office again. While Karen Dalton, a former Republican staff attorney in the Pennsylvania state house, has launched a primary challenge against Perry.
Perry, the four-term incumbent, is a member, and former chairman, of the House’s ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus. Following Joe Biden’s presidential victory in 2020, he maintained that the election was stolen, and in the lead-up to the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, Perry introduced Donald Trump to fellow election denier Jeffrey Clark, who was then a justice department official. Perry pushed for Clark’s appointment as acting attorney general to continue an effort to undermine the 2020 election results.
Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday that United States States secretary Marco Rubio called the Brazilian foreign minister Mauro Vieira on Wednesday following a call between Lula and President Donald Trump about tariffs.
In an interview with local radio station Piata FM, Lula said he was surprised about the outcome of the talk with Trump, in which he requested the removal of tariffs on Brazilian exports to the United States.
Gabrielle Canon
Hundreds of national guard troops remained in the Chicago area as city and Illinois officials awaited a judge’s decision to stop Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement operation in the nation’s third-largest city.
It was still unclear where specifically the Trump administration would send the troops who reported to an army training site south-west of Chicago, which was laden with extra fencing and tarps put up to block the public’s view of the facility late on Wednesday evening.
As they arrived this week, trucks marked Emergency Disaster Services pulled in and out, dropping off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows.
“The federal government has not communicated with us in any way about their troop movements,” Illinois governor JB Pritzker told reporters. “I can’t believe I have to say ‘troop movements’ in an American city, but that is what we’re talking about here.”
Roughly 500 soldiers – 200 from the Texas national guard and 300 from the Illinois national guard – were mobilized to the city for an “initial period of 60 days”, according to statement issued from the US Northern Command, part of the defense department, which called the operation a “federal protection mission”.
Joseph Gedeon
The homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, on Wednesday compared antifa to MS-13, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic State, calling the loosely affiliated network of antifascist street activists “just as dangerous” as designated terrorist organizations during a White House roundtable discussion.
“They are just as sophisticated as MS-13, as TDA [Tren de Aragua], as Isis, as Hezbollah, as Hamas, as all of them, they are just as dangerous,” Noem said. “They have an agenda to destroy us, just like the other terrorists we’ve dealt with for many, many years.”
The roundtable featured rightwing social media journalists such as Andy Ngo, Nick Sortor, Katie Daviscourt and others who cover leftwing protests.
Some of the groups Noem cited – Hamas, Hezbollah and Isis – are formally designated terrorist organizations that control territory, operate military wings, maintain command structures and have carried out mass casualty attacks including bombings, kidnappings and assassinations.
Extremism experts have long described antifa, by contrast, as having no centralized leadership, formal membership or organizational structure, and it has generally been described by federal law enforcement as a decentralized movement of activists who engage in protest activity, some of which has included property destruction and street violence.
The roundtable comes after Donald Trump signed an executive order in September designating antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization”.
Robert Mackey
While Republican lawmakers lined up to praise Donald Trump on Wednesday for brokering a tentative deal on the “first phase” of an agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the fighting in Gaza, and win the release of the remaining Israeli hostages, Palestinian American were more wary.
“President Trump is the peace president! Finally, the living nightmare the hostages have been forced to endure will end and Americans Itay and Omer can be laid to rest,” Joni Ernst, the Iowa senator wrote on social media, referring to Israeli hostages who died in captivity. The tentative agreement would ensure the return of living Israeli hostages, and the remains of those who have died in Gaza since 7 October 2021.
Bernie Moreno, the Ohio senator who introduced a resolution in June calling for Trump to be awarded the Nobel peace prize for bombing nuclear sites in Iran, said the announcement made this a “historic” day, “for the United States, Israel, and peace in the Middle East”.
“President Trump has once again delivered on his promise to achieve peace through strength. An incredible feat that will go down in history. NOBEL PEACE PRIZE!” Moreno added.
Brian Mast, a Florida representative who once served as a civilian volunteer in the Israeli military, and wore his old Israeli uniform to work in the aftermath of the 7 October 2021 Hamas-led attack, also praised Trump.
“President Trump just did what career diplomats never could – he brought the world closer than it’s ever been to peace in Gaza,” Mast, who chairs the House foreign affairs committee, wrote. “This deal only works if Hamas follows through. We don’t trust terrorists, we trust results.”
Donald Trump hailed what he said was a “great day” for the Arab and Muslim world, Israel and all surrounding nations, as well as the US.
“We thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!” he posted.
Hamas said on Thursday it had reached the agreement after talks on the proposal, confirming the deal includes an Israeli withdrawal from the enclave and a hostage-prisoner exchange.
Responding to the announcement, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said: “With God’s help, we will bring them all home.”
National guard troops now protecting federal property in Chicago area, official says
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and I’ll be bringing you all the latest news lines over the next few hours.
We start with the news that a small number of national guard troops has started protecting federal property in the Chicago area and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.
An “element” of 200 Texas Guard troops were working in the Chicago area, according to a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to discuss operational details that have not been made public.
The troops are in the city to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other federal facilities and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command said online.
The troops, along with about 300 from Illinois, had arrived Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the Northern Command and have been activated for 60 days. The spokesperson wasn’t able to immediately offer details about how the troops were armed.
It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the imprisonment of Brandon Johnson, Chicago’s mayor, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, accusing them of failing to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers.
“Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. “Governor Pritzker also!”
Both Johnson and Pritzker are Democrats. Trump’s remarks come as national guard troops have begun arriving in the Chicago area at the order of the Trump administration, despite objections from Illinois officials, including Pritzker and Johnson.
Read the full story here:
In other developments:
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Donald Trump announced that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a tentative deal to end the fighting in Gaza, and free Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
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News of the Gaza agreement was praised by Republican lawmakers, who called on Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace prize this week, but greeted with more trepidation by Palestinian Americans.
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During White House event, Trump appeared not to recognize the term ‘Habeas Corpus’ and deferred to Kristi Noem, his homeland security secretary. In May, Noem gave a wildly inaccurate definition of the core legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people.
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All of the witnesses who contributed testimony at the White House “antifa roundtable” hosted by the president on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might better be called partisan conservative social media influencers. The influencers cover leftwing protests in a highly political manner, more akin to opposition research than nonpartisan reporting.
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Senate Republicans voted down a war powers resolution that would have checked Trump’s ability to use deadly military force against suspected drug smugglers after Democrats tried to counter the administration’s extraordinary use of the military to destroy boats in the Caribbean.
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During the White House “antifa roundtable” on Wednesday, at least one wirness echoed Trump’s false claim that large numbers of people have been killed by left-wing radicals in Portland, Oregon. The correct number of killings by self-described “antifa” radicals in Portland is: one.