‘Haven’t Had A Day Off In Two Years’: Speaker Mike Johnson Confronts Claim House Went On ‘Vacation’ During Shutdown

Speaker Mike Johnson fired back Sunday at the narrative that the House was on “vacation” during the recently concluded 43-day government shutdown, quipping he has not had “a day off in two years.”

The lower chamber was not in session and did not conduct legislative business during the first 42 days of the shutdown, as well as the preceding week-and-a-half. Instead, members took part in a “district work period” when they had a chance to interact in-person with their constituents.

Johnson said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” that, contrary to what his critics claim, the fact that House members were not on Capitol Hill for weeks did not mean they were not still working.

“Just because we don’t have legislative voting days, it doesn’t mean Congress isn’t working. There’s this idea out there that Congress goes on vacation,” Johnson told host Shannon Bream. “Shannon, we haven’t — I haven’t — had a day off in two years. I mean, we work around the clock on these things. Our appropriators in particular, have been working very hard, and they’re ready to go.”

The speaker added that he is “very optimistic” the House and Senate can cooperate to pass and send nine appropriations bills to President Donald Trump’s desk by the Jan. 31, 2026 deadline in order to avert another shutdown.

“We are returning to regular order, the way this is supposed to work. You know, Congress hasn’t done this for many years — and I’m really proud of this achievement — having gotten three bills signed into law on Wednesday night. Three bills is a big achievement,” Johnson said, referring to three funding bills Trump