Hakeem Jeffries rejects Mike Johnson's shutdown plan

• House Democrats from across the party's ideological spectrum have argued the onus of averting a government shutdown falls squarely on Republicans, who control Congress and the White House.
• Johnson will likely need Democratic votes to pass any government funding measure. Even if he manages to pass a GOP-only bill, Democrats can block it in the Senate.

What they're saying: With a week until the March 14 government shutdown deadline, Jeffries, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) wrote that the continuing resolution Republicans are expected to put forth is "not acceptable."

• "Republicans have decided to introduce a partisan continuing resolution that threatens to cut funding for healthcare, nutritional assistance and veterans benefits through the end of the current fiscal year," they said.
• The Democratic leaders said they would "enthusiastically support a bill that protects Social Security, Medicare, veterans health and Medicaid," but that "Medicaid is our redline."

Between the lines: Democrats have been fighting for language that constricts DOGE's ability to get around the funding guidelines passed by Congress.

• Republicans so far have declined to accede to that as they largely cheer on DOGE's cuts, and as such funding talks have stalled.
• That leaves the federal government hurtling towards a shutdown.

The other side: "House Democrats admitted they wanted a government shutdown, and now they're following through," said National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella.

• "They're deliberately making our country less safe and less prosperous just to score political points. House Democrats will always put politics over people."