Press Releases

WASHINGTON — On Day 21 of the Democrat Shutdown, Speaker Johnson held a press conference alongside House GOP Leadership and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer to highlight the unnecessary pain Washington Democrats are causing the American people by continuing to vote to keep the government closed. Speaker Johnson and Chairman Comer also provided a detailed update on the latest developments in the bipartisan investigation into the heinous crimes of Jeffrey Epstein.

Watch Speaker Johnson’s full remarks here.

On the Democrat Shutdown causing pain around the country:

I want to put a finer point on some of the very real consequences we're seeing and what they mean for Americans around the country. And I'll zoom in on some of these key Democrat states where the Senators continue to dig their heels in and vote against opening the government. Yesterday from NBC News, here's the headline: “Air traffic control staffing issues cause flight delays across the country.” The Secretary of Transportation said 53% of flight delays are now due to staffing issues, and usually that number is 5%.

From Colorado, “Food banks face growing crises as shut down impacts become a reality.” That's the headline from Sky High News. What are Colorado's two Democrat Senators doing? You've got Hickenlooper and Bennett. They have both now voted 11 times to keep the government closed.

Virginia, here's the headline yesterday, KSL Virginia, “Employees fear shutdowns impact on veterans’ medical care.” Meanwhile, there are two Democrat Senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, who have voted repeatedly to put their thumb in the eye of those veterans, and they won't end this pain.

From Hawaii, Hawaii News Now says, “Government shutdown impacts telehealth for seniors in Hawaii.” Seniors in Hawaii rely upon telehealth. Guess who's shutting it down? There are two Democrat Senators, Brian Shatz and Mazie Hirono, who voted again and again to keep the government closed and disrupt the health services for seniors in their own state. They've got a lot to answer for.

From California, here's a headline from ABC7 News, “Alameda Food Banks step in to help TSA workers families impacted by government shutdown.” That is disgusting. And both of California Senators, Padilla and Schiff have voted 11 times to block the pay of those TSA agents and their families -- the paychecks they rely upon.

From Illinois, WIFR yesterday, “Federal courts in Northern Illinois reduce operations due to government shutdown.” The courts are reducing operations. And you've got Illinois Democrats, Senators Duckworth and Durbin, have voted to keep the government closed. We could do this all day long.

Democrats used to care about the harm that shutdowns caused hardworking Americans, but now we can all see very clearly that was always based on politics and not principle. because they have thrown the principle out the window. And yesterday there was an article from The Hill that laid bare that very fact, a Democrat Senator was speaking anonymously and admitted, “People are going to get hammered if they vote for the House-passed bill to reopen the government.” The clean non-partisan CR, they're going to get hammered.

Another insider said in that same story, “We would have enough votes to reopen the government if people were not terrified of getting the guillotine.” Okay, they mean it metaphorically, but in a political sense, that's exactly what they're concerned about. And think about the fact that we're just laying out here. These are simple facts. We come out here every morning and remind the American people of what's going on. Do not let them distract you from the facts. The American people would have an open government if Democrats were not terrified of their radical base. That is the headline. Every single one of you should write that.

On Democrats politicizing the Epstein investigation after staying silent for four years:

Congressional Democrats are rudderless right now. I don't know how else to describe it. They don't have a message. They don't have a leader. They don't have any identifiable set of policy solutions for the problems facing the American people. Their party continues to hit all time historic lows and poll after poll after poll. And many of you have reported on that. These are objective facts. They're utterly lost as a party and everybody can see it.

So, what are they doing? They see a shiny object, and they latch onto it. Democrats did not say one word about the Epstein files for the entire Biden presidency. They had all the files in the Biden DOJ. They didn't say a word about it. Four years, not a word. And suddenly now they somehow convinced themselves that the Epstein files will be damaging to President Trump and Republicans in some way that they've imagined. And so, they feign outrage. Let me be very clear about this. I've met with some of the Epstein victims, some of these brave women who've come forward. They were here on Capitol Hill, as you all know. We heard their stories. It's gut wrenching. It's disgusting what they've been made to go through. And they bravely came forward. We're working around the clock to ensure that justice is served. And also, part of the oversight is to figure out why justice has been delayed for so long.

On the bipartisan House Oversight Committee investigation yielding significant results:

If you're not keeping track, they have now subpoenaed and released 43,000 pages of documents. They have subpoenaed and released DOJ and Epstein Estate documents with more to come. They've issued 11 deposition subpoenas, and they've released Bill Barr's deposition transcript just a few days ago. They released the transcript from the interview with Alexander Acosta. They requested and begun to receive suspicious activity reports from the Treasury Department. And the Department is fully cooperating in that. And they published letters from Eric Holder, Merrick Garland, and James Comey stating they had no knowledge or information related to the committee’s investigation. Those documents include the ones that were released on Friday of last week. The Epstein estate documents include his personal phone logs, his travel logs, his financial records, the ledgers that many people have been wanting to see, and even his daily calendar. The investigation and continued document release is ongoing, even as we speak. And let me say this clearly as well.

The Bipartisan House Oversight Committee is already accomplishing what the discharge petition, that gambit, sought and much more. The Epstein Estate files that have been this new treasure trove, the third batch of information released right now, was not even included in the discharge petition. You can't even think of it. And again, the investigation is bipartisan, it's nonstop, and it's far broader in scope than what is covered by the discharge petition and has already yielded significant results. Unfortunately, some Democrats, and sadly even a couple Republicans, have tried to make this a political issue. And they seem to be more interested in trying somehow to lay a glove on the President than in securing justice for these victims. And I think that is shameful. But as Chairman Comer will tell you, the work of the bipartisan investigation continues.