Trump under Pressure - Jeffries Attacks Republicans as "Unserious"

The fronts in the bitter budget dispute continue to harden. While Speaker Mike Johnson canceled the House session week in order to force the Senate to adopt the funding bill passed by Republicans, the pressure on the party’s second chamber is also growing:

The Republicans are pressuring the Senate to accept the bill and thus end the shutdown.

Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries used the stalemate for a sharp reckoning. "These aren’t serious individuals. They want to keep the government shut down," he declared at a press conference on Friday - and in doing so took aim not only at Johnson but above all at Donald Trump. Jeffries accused the president of "deeply unserious and deeply unhinged behavior" and said Republicans lacked a coherent argument.

The stalemate, he warned, will soon hit millions of Americans hard: "Everyone is about to experience dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles - because of the Republican health care crisis." For Democrats it remains clear that without an extension of subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act no budget compromise can be reached. Despite the escalation, Jeffries expressed a willingness to negotiate. Whether with Johnson, Senator John Thune or directly with Trump and his administration - he said he was ready "anytime, anyplace, anywhere." But until then, the shutdown remains, and with it grows the pressure on the president and his party.