Hold onto your hats, folks—Speaker Mike Johnson just threw a curveball at critics, claiming the House of Representatives was lounging on a beach during a grueling 43-day government shutdown.
According to the Daily Caller, Johnson, addressing sharp accusations of congressional inaction, staunchly defended the House’s work ethic during a period when no legislative votes occurred, highlighting their engagement with constituents while pushing for critical funding bills to prevent another fiscal crisis by January 31, 2026.
For the first 42 days of this shutdown, plus a preceding week-and-a-half, the House wasn’t casting votes or debating in chambers.
Instead, members were deep in what’s called a “district work period,” meeting face-to-face with folks back home at town halls and community forums.
This isn’t some newfangled dodge—it’s a tradition dating back to the early 1970s, often centered around an August recess, though Johnson called for an extra break during this shutdown.
Critics, especially some Democrats, aren’t buying it, tossing around terms like “paid vacation” while the nation’s gears grind to a halt.
On “Fox News Sunday,” Johnson didn’t mince words with host Shannon Bream, pushing back hard against the vacation narrative.
“Just because we don’t have legislative voting days, it doesn’t mean Congress isn’t working. There’s this idea out there that Congress goes on vacation,” Johnson said, as reported by Fox News.
Let’s unpack that—while the optics of an empty House chamber sting, connecting with constituents during a crisis isn’t exactly sipping mai tais; it’s often gritty, boots-on-the-ground problem-solving.
Johnson also pointed out that many House Republicans found this shutdown period among their most productive, helping constituents navigate the mess he attributes to partisan gridlock.
“Remember, the Democrats in Congress voted 16 times to keep the government closed, to bring on the longest shutdown in U.S. history, and to exact all this pain on the people,” Johnson told Bream on “Fox News Sunday.”
That’s a bold claim, and it’s hard not to raise an eyebrow at repeated votes to stall progress—surely, there’s a better way than turning a shutdown into a political chess game.
Despite the deadlock, Johnson touted a recent win—three funding bills signed into law by President Donald Trump on the shutdown’s final night. He’s also optimistic about bipartisan cooperation to pass nine more appropriations bills before the looming January 31, 2026, deadline, a move to steer clear of another fiscal cliff.
While some Democrats, led by Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz, push a resolution to keep the House in session during shutdowns, and others grumble about delayed votes like a discharge petition on Jeffrey Epstein files set for Tuesday, Johnson’s focus on getting Congress back to “regular order” signals a hope for less drama and more results.