Sen. John Hawley (R-MO) took a swipe at House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday for “kicking the can down the road” as the government is once again on the verge of a shutdown.
“This was supposed to be done in September,” Hawley told CNN. “This is now almost March? Well, this is just ridiculous. They have agreement on the top line. They’ve had it since January. This is why I voted against the last CR. They’ve just been kicking the can down the road. I can’t believe that they didn’t get work done over the weekend. They had months to do this stuff. I mean, I — my patience has run out.”
Asked who is to be blamed, Hawley responded, “leadership is to blame” on both sides.
“They’re all the blame,” Hawley added. “I mean at this point it’s absurd.”
On March 1, funding for the departments of Agriculture, Energy, House and Urban Development, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs, and other programs, will run out.
Funding for the rest of the government, including the Defense, State and Justice departments, will expire on March 8.
Speaker Johnson left a meeting with President Biden and top congressional leaders Tuesday and told reporters he is “very optimistic” Congress will avert a shutdown by Friday’s deadline.
“We have been working in good faith around the clock every single day for months and weeks, and over the last several days, quite literally around the clock to get that job done. We’re very optimistic,” Johnson said. “We believe that we can get to agreement on these issues and prevent a government shutdown, and that’s our first responsibility.”
