House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday rejected Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' (D-N.Y.) demand that the two have a televised debate as the government shutdown enters its second week.
Why it matters: Johnson is laying down a hard line in refusing to negotiate on a deal to end the shutdown, canceling House votes this week and vowing to keep the chamber out of session until Democrats fold.
- "The House has done its job," he said at a press conference Monday. "There's nothing for us to negotiate."
Driving the news: Jeffries, in a letter to Johnson, challenged the House speaker to a debate "any day this week in primetime, broadcast live to the American people."
- "[A] debate on the House Floor will provide the American people with the transparency they deserve," Jeffries wrote.
- "It will also give you an opportunity to explain your my way or the highway approach to shutting the government down, when Democratic votes are needed to resolve the impasse that exists."
What they're saying: "When the polls say that about 13% of the people approve of your messaging, then you make desperate pleas for attention, and that's what Hakeem Jeffries has done," Johnson said at his press conference.
- Johnson added that Jeffries "had his shot," noting that Republicans' bill to keep the government funded was debated before it passed the House last month.
- "We don't need to waste time on that nonsense, those debates have been had. Hakeem is a friend and a colleague. I respect him, but we all know what he's trying to do there," he said.
What we're hearing: The debate proposal was described by even some House Democrats as a Hail Mary move aimed at seizing momentum in the shutdown stalemate.
- One House Democrat, asked about Johnson's refusal to debate Jeffries, told Axios: "Why would he?"
