‘I don’t have any strategy’: Speaker Johnson still backs GOP’s clean CR as shutdown drags into 3rd week

(WASHINGTON) — Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed the possibility he could change his strategy to end the government shutdown by negotiating legislative changes with Democrats, telling reporters on Tuesday that he doesn’t “have any strategy” to end the impasse in place of the GOP’s lackluster pressure campaign to pass a “clean” continuing resolution.

Johnson on Tuesday pushed Democrats to support the House-passed funding bill and slammed the Democrats’ $1.5 trillion proposal, which extends health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and reverses cuts to Medicaid.

Asked whether he may consider a different negotiation track as the pressure campaign against Democrats has so far failed to break the standoff, Johnson reiterated that the House-passed bill is a “clean” continuing resolution