Johnson:‘We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history’

The speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson (Republican for Louisiana), warned Monday that the federal government shutdown, which has now been going on for 13 days, could become one of the longest in U.S. history if Democrats do not agree to a "clean" stopgap funding bill passed by the House.

According to Johnson, Democrats must drop their demands related to extending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, which expire at the end of the year, to reopen the government and guarantee payment to federal workers.

“We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history, unless Democrats dropped their partisan demands and passed a clean, no-strings-attached budget to reopen the government and pay our federal workers,” Johnson told a news conference, according to a report from The Hill. The shutdown, which began nearly two weeks ago, is already among the longest in the country's modern history.

The longest government shutdown on record occurred between 2018 and 2019, during the first term of President Donald Trump, and lasted 35 days.

Other prolonged shutdowns in the country's history

Other significant shutdowns include the 1995-1996 shutdown under former President Bill Clinton, which lasted 21 days, and the 2013 shutdown under ex-president Barack Obama and the 1978 shutdown under ex-president Jimmy Carter, both 17 days, according to The Hill.

The conflict centers on a standoff between Republican and Democratic congressional leaders. Along those lines, Republicans are insisting that Democrats accept the "clear" stopgap funding measure passed by the House in September, which has been rejected seven times in the Senate.

For their part, Democrats are demanding that healthcare issues, particularly the extension of ACA tax credits, be addressed as part of the negotiations. Republicans, however, have refused to include health care discussions during the shutdown.

One strategy

Johnson defended the Republican strategy of keeping the House in an extended recess, canceling weeks of scheduled votes to pressure the Democratic-led Senate. "You can poll individual House Republicans, maybe you should, and 98.7 percent of them will tell you that this is the right thing," Johnson said.

However, some Republicans have expressed concern about this tactic, arguing that the House should continue to work on regular appropriations bills and other legislation during the shutdown.