House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Monday challenged Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to a debate about the government shutdown on the floor of the lower chamber.

The request for a prime-time, nationally televised debate comes as the government shutdown approaches a full week, with each side in Congress blaming the other.

“Democrats have been clear and consistent in our position,” the New York Democrat said in a letter to Johnson. “The country needs immediate, bipartisan negotiations between the White House and congressional leadership in order to reach an enlightened spending agreement that reopens the government, improves the lives of hardworking American taxpayers and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis.”

Last month, the House passed a stopgap funding bill that woul

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