As Trump tours Asia, Mike Johnson says GOP must resolve shutdown: 'Entrusted us to fix this'

WASHINGTON, DC:  With President Donald Trump on a weeklong trip across Asia, House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Monday that the president has left it to congressional Republicans to resolve the ongoing government shutdown, now entering its fourth week.

Asked whether Trump’s presence in Washington might help break the impasse, Johnson replied, “President Trump has entrusted us to fix this because this is an Article I branch problem.”

Johnson says 'it's up to the Democrats' 

“The president tried his best,” Johnson continued. “He brought them in before all this madness started, and Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries effectively told him to jump in the Potomac."

"So it’s up to the Democrats, everybody knows that," he added.

Johnson also explained that, "The president said he’ll meet with them on any issue under the sun. We’re delighted to talk about it, but they have to get the government reopened first."

Last week, Democratic leaders Schumer and Jeffries reportedly sought a meeting with the president to negotiate a deal to reopen the government. But he declined, saying they must first vote to end the shutdown.

Health care fight needs ‘buy-in’ from everyone

Johnson said that the central issue in the funding battle, the health care reforms, can't be resolved through a short-term spending bill, as Democrats have proposed.

“The reason it was never appropriate or never possible to be resolved in a simple CR, a stopgap funding measure, is because it’s very complicated to fix,” Johnson said. “But Republicans have a long list of ideas.”

Rejecting calls from Senate Minority Leader Schumer for private talks, Johnson insisted he would not negotiate a small backroom deal.

“I am not going to go in a back room with Chuck Schumer, like he keeps demanding, with four people and make this decision,” he clarified.

“I will not do it. It's not appropriate, it's not right. It's too complicated for that. We need all the members to have buy-in. We need to have these healthy debates and discussions,” he added.

Johnson admits uncertainty over military pay

Mike Johnson also acknowledged that he was “not 100% sure” whether members of the US military would receive their next paycheck, due later this week.

“Their next check is due the end of this week, and we're not 100% sure,” Johnson said.

"I do know the administration and everybody is bending over backwards to try to figure that out, but I don’t know the final analysis yet," he confessed.

SNAP contingency funds ‘not legally available’

Johnson also addressed growing concerns over Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, saying that the administration has worked "very creatively and very hard to limit the pain on Americans.”

But he warned that contingency funds for the program are “not legally available” under the current budget conditions.

“The reason is because it’s a finite source of funds, it was appropriated by Congress, and if they transfer funds from these other sources, it pulls it away immediately from school meals and infant formula,” Johnson said.

“So it’s a trade-off,” he added.

He also said that “there has to be a pre-existing appropriation for the contingency fund to be used.”

“The best way for SNAP benefits to be paid on time is for the Democrats to end their shutdown,” Johnson concluded. “That could happen right now if they would show some spine.”