C-SPAN caller confronts House Speaker Mike Johnson about effects of shutdown: ‘My kids could die’

WASHINGTON — A C-SPAN caller made an emotional plea Thursday to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to end the government shutdown, saying “my kids could die” if she couldn’t afford their medications.

The woman, identified as Samantha of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, expressed concerns about what would happen to her family if the military is not paid next week. The caller, also identified as a Republican, said she had “two medically fragile children” and that her husband was “actively serving his country” and had served two military tours in Afghanistan.

She brought up comments Johnson made Wednesday when asked if he would allow a vote on a bill to provide the military with emergency pay if the shutdown continues. Johnson told reporters that Democrats were “demanding to come back here and have another vote, because some of them want it to be on the record and say they are in favor of paying the troops. We already had this vote. It’s called the CR,” referring to the short-term funding bill that the House passed but which Democrats do not support.

“If we see a loss of wages on the 15th, my kids won’t get the medications they need to live their lives because we’re living paycheck to paycheck,” Samantha told Johnson.

The exchange took place as Johnson was answering questions live from C-SPAN viewers who called into the network Thursday morning. According to C-SPAN communications director Howard Mortman, Johnson is the fourth seated speaker to join the network in studio and answer callers’ questions, and the first since 2001.

Active duty military personnel were due to be paid on October 15, but if the shutdown continues, they will not receive payment for work done in October.

Samantha said she was “very disappointed in my party and I’m very disappointed in you.” She pointed out that Johnson had the authority to call the House back into session. The House is expected to return on October 14.

“I implore you to pass this legislation,” she said. “My children could die.”

NBC News has reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.

Johnson told Samantha he was “angry over situations like yours.” He pointed out that his congressional district is home to many military families, including families who “have children in health conditions like yours.”

“That’s what keeps me up at night,” he says. “I want you to hear something very clear: it is the Republicans who are at your service. »

Johnson went on to place blame on Democrats for not voting in favor of the Republican-backed continuing resolution, which would reopen the government and provide short-term funding at the same levels as before the shutdown began. Democrats pushed Republicans to address health care issues first, noting that Affordable Care Act subsidies would expire at the end of the year, raising the cost of health care.

“It’s the Democrats who are stopping you from getting a check. If we did another one, a vote on the floor, to pay the troops, that’s not a legislative exercise, because (Senate Minority Leader) Chuck Schumer is going to delay that in the Senate,” Johnson said.

The Senate has failed six times, largely on partisan lines, to pass two funding bills, the House-passed GOP bill and a bill from Senate Democrats.

Reached for comment, Schumer’s office referred NBC News to remarks the New York Democrat made Thursday on the Senate floor.

He said: “Every day that Republicans refuse to negotiate to end this lockdown, the worse it gets for Americans and the clearer it becomes who is fighting for them every day, our argument for fixing health care and ending the lockdown becomes stronger and stronger, as families open their letters showing how much their contributions will rise if Republicans get what they want, they understand why this fight is important. It’s about protecting their health care, their bank accounts, their future.”

Johnson detailed the conversation with C-SPAN later Thursday morning during a press briefing, highlighting the impact of the shutdown on military families.

“Many are deployed right now to defend your freedom around the world,” he said. “And they left their young families at home. They’re living paycheck to paycheck. A lot of them, these military guys, and it’s not a game.”