WASHINGTON — During a C-SPAN call on Thursday, a woman made an impassioned request to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., urging him to resolve the government shutdown, fearing her children’s lives are at risk without access to their medication.
Identified as Samantha from Fort Belvoir, Virginia, she voiced her fears regarding the potential outcomes for her family if military personnel go unpaid the following week. Speaking as a Republican, she explained that her family includes “two medically fragile children” and her husband, who has served in Afghanistan, is “actively serving his country.”
She referenced Johnson’s remarks from Wednesday concerning the possibility of allowing a vote on a measure to ensure emergency pay for military members during the shutdown. Johnson had remarked to reporters that Democrats were “clamoring to get back here and have another vote, because some of them want to get on record and say they’re for paying the troops. We already had that vote. It’s called the CR,” indicating the short-term funding bill passed by the House that Democrats oppose.
Samantha stressed to Johnson, “If we see a lapse in pay come the 15th, my children do not get to get the medication that’s needed for them to live their life, because we live paycheck to paycheck.”
This dialogue took place as Johnson fielded questions live from C-SPAN callers Thursday morning. As per C-SPAN communications director Howard Mortman, Johnson is the fourth sitting speaker to visit the network studio and engage with callers, an event not seen since 2001.
Active-duty military staff were due for pay on Oct. 15, but continued shutdown means they won’t receive compensation for October’s labor.
Samantha said that she was “very disappointed in my party, and I’m very disappointed in you.” She pointed out that Johnson had the power to call the House back into session. The House is set to return on Oct. 14.
“I am begging you to pass this legislation,” she said. “My kids could die.”
NBC News reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.
Johnson told Samantha he was “angry because of situations just like yours.” He noted that his congressional district is home to many military families, including families who “have children in health situations like yours.”
“This is what keeps me up at night,” he said. “I want you to hear something very clearly: The Republicans are the ones delivering for you.”
Johnson continued, casting blame on Democrats for not voting for the GOP-backed continuing resolution, which would reopen the government and provide short-term funding at the same levels as before the shutdown began. Democrats have been pushing Republicans to address health care issues first, noting that Affordable Care Act subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year, which would increase the cost of health care.
“The Democrats are the ones that are preventing you from getting a check. If we did another, a vote on the floor, pay troops, it’s not a lawmaking exercise, because [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer is going to hold that up in the Senate,” Johnson said.
The Senate has failed six times, largely on party lines, to pass two funding bills, the House-passed GOP bill and one from Senate Democrats.
Reached for comment, a Senate Democratic Leadership aide said, “We have no idea what Speaker Johnson is talking about.”
The New York Democrat also slammed Republicans in remarks on the Senate floor on Thursday, saying that “every day that Republicans refuse to negotiate to end this shutdown, the worse it gets for Americans, the clearer it becomes who is fighting for them each day,
our case to fix health care and end the shutdown gets better and better, stronger and stronger, because families are opening their letters showing how high their premiums will climb if Republicans get their way, they’re seeing why this fight matters. It’s about protecting their health care, their bank accounts, their futures.”
Johnson detailed the C-SPAN conversation later Thursday morning during a press briefing, pointing to the shutdown’s impact on military families.
“Many are deployed right now, defending your freedom around the world,” he said. “And they left their young families at home. They live paycheck to paycheck. Many of these, these service members, and this is not a game.”
