Mike Johnson Dragged For Claiming He’s Tired Amid Shutdown

As the government shutdown stretches into its fourth week, House Speaker Mike Johnson says he’s feeling fatigued.

The Louisiana Republican made the eyebrow-raising claim at a Tuesday press conference on Capitol Hill, telling reporters that he’s been approached by constituents who tell him, “You look so tired on TV.”

“I am so tired, because we’re not sleeping a lot,” he said. “We’re working overtime.”

The Republican-held House, over which Johnson presides, hasn’t held a floor vote since Sept. 19, some 12 days before the shutdown began on Oct. 1.

Not surprisingly, Johnson’s assertion about “working overtime” when, in reality, his actual workload has been scant amid the shutdown has drawn a heated response online.

“I wouldn’t be tired if I worked 20 days in four months,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

A number of Democratic lawmakers shared similar sentiments.

“Poor baby Mike is tired… How about the families who are about to lose their health insurance? How about those about to lose SNAP?” Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) wrote on X. “You think they’re getting a lot of sleep Mike?”

Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) also chimed in, writing: “Speaker Johnson means working none of the time, actually.”

The longest government shutdown lasted for 34 days ― from Dec. 22, 2018, to Jan. 24, 2019 ― during Trump’s first term.

Dubious claims about his exhaustion aside, Johnson has hinted that he believes the ongoing shutdown, which he has repeatedly blamed on Democrats, will surpass its predecessor.