Johnson On His Plan To Avert Shutdown: “Trust Us”

The Washington Post reports:

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) urged the public on Tuesday to “trust us” as he floated a plan to fund the government that is unlikely to pass the Senate, increasing the odds of a shutdown just 11 days before funds lapse.

Speaking to reporters at a news conference with the families of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas, Johnson referred to a closed-door meeting of House Republicans Tuesday morning as a “refreshing, constructive family conversation” as members of his caucus push competing approaches to funding the government.

Federal appropriations will lapse at 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 18 if there is no action, affecting a wide array of federal services and the government’s roughly 2 million civilian and military employees.

Read the full article. Standing next to Johnson at the press event was munitions salesman Rep. Cory Mills, who this weekend repeated a widely-debunked far-right claim that Gaza residents are “pretending to be killed.” Many such claims posted to social media feature years-old “body bag” climate protests from other countries.