Rep. Mike Lawler is seen confronting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on the eighth day of the government shutdown, Oct. 8, 2025. (Elizabeth Elkind/Fox News Digital)
The heated exchange began with Lawler challenging Jeffries to sign onto bipartisan legislation extending COVID-19 pandemic-era enhancements to ObamaCare subsidies for one year.
Those subsidies are set to expire at the end of 2025 without congressional action, and Democrats have been demanding that the issue be addressed before they would agree on a federal funding bill to end the shutdown.
"We've got a one-year extension, why don't you sign on right now?" Lawler asked.
Jeffries responded angrily, "Did you get permission from your boss? Did your boss Donald Trump give you permission?"
"He's not my boss," Lawler replied.
The two men spoke over each other for nearly five minutes, both accusing the other's party of derailing the government.
"You're an embarrassment," Jeffries said, before confronting him for voting for President Donald Trump's massive policy bill, the One, Big Beautiful Bill Act.
"I voted for a tax cut bill that gave the largest tax cut to Americans in history — including, by the way, the average New Yorker getting a $4,000 tax cut. Are you against that?" Lawler asked.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer walk to speak to members of the media following a meeting at the White House on Sept. 29, 2025. (Annabelle Gordon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The fight came hours after Johnson confronted a pair of Senate Democrats outside his office who were demanding the Republican leader swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz.
Senate Democrats rejected the GOP-led funding bill for the sixth time on Wednesday, all but guaranteeing the shutdown will extend into a ninth day.
The House passed a bill to extend fiscal year (FY) 2025 federal funding levels through Nov. 21 to give lawmakers more time to create a longer-term deal for FY 2026 spending.
But Democrats, furious at being sidelined in federal funding talks, have largely said they'll reject any deal that does not include an extension of the expiring ObamaCare subsidies.
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
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox
Subscribed
You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter!
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/screaming-match-erupts-between-hakeem-jeffries-mike-lawler-government-shutdown-chaos-continues