The House has no plans to return to Washington this week as Republicans seek to pressure Senate Democrats into ending a shutdown by passing their spending bill.
“We need them to turn the lights back on,” Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed the decision, writing Saturday that his team will “maintain a robust presence in Washington” while the caucus meets virtually tonight.
Democrats also took the opportunity to hit Johnson over Jeffrey Epstein: “The reason he sent them home is because he’s more interested in protecting the Epstein files” by punting a vote on their release, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday.
“They could make this really painful for us if they called us back and made us vote on hard stuff,” one House Democratic aide told Semafor. “But they are just trying to delay, delay, delay.”