Schumer praises Johnson after spending deal: ‘Decent, respectful guy’

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) praised House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in the wake of congressional leaders reaching a new top-line spending deal Tuesday.

“He’s a very decent, respectful guy, unlike some, who want to be macho and bullying and threatening and all that. He’s not like that,” Schumer said at a press conference Tuesday. “But he’s in a very, very difficult position.”

On Sunday, Johnson announced the deal with the Senate and White House in a “Dear Colleague” letter.

“The topline constitutes $1.590 trillion for [fiscal 2024] — the statutory levels of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. That includes $886 billion for defense and $704 billion for nondefense,” Johnson said in the letter.

However, Johnson has faced blowback from right-wing colleagues for the deal. In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the House Freedom Caucus said that the deal was a “total failure.”

“I am a NO to the Johnson Schumer budget deal,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote Monday on X. “This $1.6 Trillion dollar budget agreement does nothing to secure the border, stop the invasion, or stop the weaponized government targeting Biden’s political enemies and innocent Americans.” 

“So much for the power of the purse!” she added.

At the moment, Congress is facing a looming deadline of Jan. 19 to pass legislation to avert a partial government shutdown. Some departments, including the Pentagon, have funding that goes through early February.