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House Speaker Mike Johnson flexed his Southern charm when asked about Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern calling him “full of s–t,” a “liar” and a “shill” for President Trump as well as tech guru Elon Musk.
McGovern (D-Mass.) had laced into Johnson (R-La.) over his suggestion that the Dems walked away from the negotiating table on efforts to avert a government shutdown.
“Bless his heart,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday with a smile when asked about McGovern’s dig, using the phrase that can be used as an insult in the South.
“Look, the Democrats are flailing. I get it. They’ve engaged in some pretty crazy rhetoric in the last couple of weeks — you know, we’re going to shut down the city, we’re at war, we’re going to fight them in the streets, you’ve all seen that,” the speaker went on.
The Massachusetts Democrat had claimed that Dems haven’t ditched negotiations, and countered that the GOP isn’t “interested in hearing from us.”
“First of all, he’s full of s‑‑t. He’s a liar. And he’s a total shill for Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” McGovern said, the Hill reported.
“So he can blame anybody he wants … but we’re not walking away from the table,” he went on. “They’re not interested in hearing from us at this particular point. Maybe they will be in March.”
GOP leadership is deliberating internally over how to approach Trump’s “big beautiful bill” to avert a government shutdown in mid-March as well as a plan to raise the debt ceiling amid an expected deadline of June.
If Congress fails to take action, the government will shut down on March 14 and GOP leadership will have to wrestle with a slim majority and a faction of recalcitrant hardliners who have a penchant for rejecting deals to forestall a shutdown.
Democratic leadership has indicated that they won’t help Republicans forestall a shutdown without strings attached, but several moderate Dems appear to have equivocated on that point.
“They’re kind of in panic mode in the party over there,” Johnson added about McGovern’s choice words for him.
“[They] don’t really have a vision or a strategy. They don’t have a leader. Their platform has been openly repudiated by the American people in the election outcome.
“They’re really in a tough spot and what people tend to do in politics in that way is they lash out at leaders on the other side.”
Johnson added that he doesn’t take McGovern’s broadsides “personally” and further countered that “I don’t think he can back up a single thing he said.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) confirmed that during the GOP meeting Tuesday, Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) informed members of his plans to mark up a budget resolution, which is needed to kick off the process of crafting Trump’s “big beautiful bill.”
However, Republican leaders have repeatedly suggested they would have that measure and other key details of Trump’s agenda package ready imminently, only to face delays on their stated timeline.
Johnson told reporters that he doesn’t intend to postpone the House of Representatives recess next week even if the budget resolution does actually advance in the budget committee on Thursday.
Republican members of the Budget Committee and the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee have been at odds over key details of the plan.
Meanwhile, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has unveiled a budget resolution of his own in a bid to take charge of the process. Johnson told reporters the House doesn’t plan to consider his proposal.
