Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) signalled that House Democrats will not bail out Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) this time.
On Tuesday, lawmakers had a bipartisan plan to fund the government through March 14, 2025 and prevent a shutdown days before Christmas.
But, MAGA members of Congress slammed the deal and it collapsed after right-wing billionaire Elon Musk spent much of Wednesday railing against the legislation in a series of post on X, some promoting lies. Trump also criticized the deal and vowed to primary any Republican lawmaker who support the legislation.
In response, Johnson scrapped the deal even though there is no clear path forward to prevent a shutdown Friday.
In an interview with Alex Wagner Tonight on MSNBC, Crockett indicated that Democrats will just sit back and watch Republicans fight each other.
“We’re looking at this like this is their problem,” Crockett said. “We have seen this play out over and over in the entire two years that I’ve been in Congress.”
“Remember, this is not like one of the most senior members. So basically, he had not burned enough bridges. And so, they had to go way, way down in seniority to find someone that they could come to a consensus on,” Crockett continued referring to the drama and chaos that surrounded Johnson’s rise to the speakership.
“We have seen this over and over,” she continued. “And I’m just gonna sit back and sip my tea and wait on them to figure it out.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) also suggested in a statement that Johnson would be on his own if he backed out of the original bipartisan deal.
“House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government. And hurt the working class Americans they claim to support,” Jeffries said. “You break the bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences that follow.”
