Mike Johnson rejects Hakeem Jeffries' demand to debate shutdown in primetime

""The House has done its job," he said at a press conference Monday. "There's nothing for us to negotiate.""

""A debate on the House Floor will provide the American people with the transparency they deserve," Jeffries wrote. "It will also give you an opportunity to explain your my way or the highway approach to shutting the government down, when Democratic votes are needed to resolve the impasse that exists.""

""When the polls say that about 13% of the people approve of your messaging, then you make desperate pleas for attention, and that's what Hakeem Jeffries has done," Johnson said at his press conference. "We don't need to waste time on that nonsense, those debates have been had. Hakeem is a friend and a colleague. I respect him, but we all know what he's trying to do there," he said."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries challenged Speaker Mike Johnson to a primetime debate on the House floor, broadcast live to the American people. Jeffries said the debate would provide transparency and let Johnson explain his "my way or the highway" approach to shutting the government down when Democratic votes are needed to resolve the impasse. Johnson responded that the House had done its job and that there was nothing left to negotiate, calling Jeffries' move a desperate plea for attention. Some House Democrats described the proposal as a Hail Mary aimed at seizing momentum in the shutdown stalemate.

Read at Axios