House Speaker Mike Johnson, right, is criticizing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, left, for refusing to agree to a GOP-led plan to avert a government shutdown. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Johnson warned earlier on Friday that the House may not return until Schumer and Democrats agreed with Republicans' bill.
"We passed it, and it's been rejected by the Senate," the House speaker told reporters during a news conference. "So the House will come back into session and do its work as soon as Chuck Schumer allows us to reopen the government. That's plain and simple."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told Fox News Digital during his own Friday news conference that he would summon his Democratic caucus back into D.C. next week whether Republicans were there or not.
Meanwhile, two sources told Fox News Digital earlier on Friday that it was one of several strategies that House GOP leaders were considering, but were waiting to see how the Senate's Friday afternoon vote played out.
It was the fourth time Senate Democrats rejected the GOP's funding plan, a mostly flat extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 government funding levels. The measure, called a continuing resolution (CR), would also include $88 million in security funding for lawmakers, the White House and the judicial branch — which has bipartisan support.
The government is entering a partial shutdown after Congress failed to reach an agreement on federal funding. (Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., needed just one more person to sign onto a petition aimed at forcing a vote on the Epstein files — a signature they would have gotten if Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., was sworn in next week following her special election victory.
House GOP leaders have panned that petition as unserious and superfluous, having already directed the House Oversight Committee to investigate the DOJ's handling of Epstein's case.
Johnson told Fox News Digital earlier this week that he was concerned the bipartisan measure was written in a way that it would not protect sensitive information regarding Epstein's victims.
When asked about Johnson's move during his own Friday news conference, Schumer told reporters, "Johnson and the House Republicans care more about protecting the Epstein files than protecting the American people."
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/johnson-sends-critical-signal-schumer-dems-dig-government-shutdown-chaos