Fact Check: Did Mike Johnson say Republicans aren't 'in charge' of the government?

WASHINGTON, DC: As the federal government shutdown stretched into its fourth week in late October, social media users came up with a video that allegedly showed House Speaker Mike Johnson saying Republicans are not "in charge of the government". 

Interestingly, to end the shutdown, the Senate must approve a bill previously passed by the House that would reopen the federal government. 

However, is there any truth to the rumor circulated online about Mike Johnson? Let's find out below.

Claim: Mike Johnson said Republicans aren't 'in charge' of the government

A clip that went viral across social media showed Johnson saying, "The Democrats are required to open the government. They keep saying Republicans are in charge of the government. We aren't."

Moreover, some versions of the clip included a longer quote in which he added, "Not in the Senate. Sixty votes control the Senate, not a bare majority."

The clip went viral across X and Facebook. The Democratic Party also shared an X post highlighting Johnson's remarks and contrasting them with an earlier statement where he acknowledged that Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House.

True: Mike Johnson made the remarks as shutdown entered its 27th day

The claims made in the online rumour are true, as Mike Johnson did make the aforementioned remarks during a news conference on October 27, as the shutdown entered its 27th day.

The House Speaker was referring to the Senate's 60-vote threshold needed to advance most legislation. As Republicans hold only a simple majority in the Senate, they cannot get most legislation through without some Democratic support. 

In a livestream of the news conference, Johnson said Republicans need Democratic support to reopen the government, citing the Senate's 60-vote threshold and the GOP's 53 Senate seats.

"The Democrats are the ones voting repeatedly to shut down the government. But they're not opening it back up. They spent most of their time trying to distract the American people from the very simple truth. So I brought you a little visual aid here to just remind everybody what the simple facts are. Four simple facts here," Johnson said. 

He added, "The Democrats are required to open the government. They keep saying Republicans are in charge of the government. We aren't. Not in the Senate. 60 votes control the Senate, not a bare majority. And so point number one, Democrat votes are required to open the government."

Moreover, Johnson made several claims about Senate Democrats' alleged demands for reopening the government. He said, "$200 billion in health benefits to illegal aliens and noncitizens paid for by US taxpayers."

Mike Johnson says GOP must resolve shutdown

Mike Johnson said on Monday, October 28, that President Donald Trump has left it to congressional Republicans to resolve the ongoing government shutdown, now entering its fourth week.

When asked whether the POTUS' presence in Washington might help break the impasse, the House Speaker replied, "President Trump has entrusted us to fix this because this is an Article I branch problem."

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

Johnson also said, "So it’s up to the Democrats, everybody knows 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," he further explained.

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