House Speaker Mike Johnson revealed on Tuesday that Democrats are demanding billions in wasteful and ideological spending, including $3.9 million for LGBTQI+ democracy grants in the Western Balkans, as part of their conditions to reopen the government.
Speaking on the 14th day of what he called the Democrat government shutdown, Johnson said the American people are suffering because Democrats have chosen politics over responsibility.
“Welcome to day 14 of the Democrat government shutdown,” Johnson said during his press briefing. “It’s two weeks of Democrats in Congress inflicting untold pain on the American people for nothing other than pure politics.”
Johnson explained that House Republicans had already offered a clean continuing resolution to keep the government funded, but Democrats repeatedly rejected it.
Instead, he said, Democrats are tying unrelated left-wing priorities to essential government operations in an attempt to strong-arm Republicans into approving radical spending measures.
He accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of catering to what he described as the party’s “Marxist base.”
The Speaker laid out details from the Democrats’ counterproposal, calling it a $1.5 trillion wish list of reckless spending that would send taxpayer money to liberal causes and foreign projects that have nothing to do with running the U.S. government.
Among the examples he cited were $24.6 million for climate resilience programs in Honduras.
Another $13.4 million would go to civic engagement programs in Zimbabwe.
An additional $2.9 million is earmarked for desert locust risk reduction in the Horn of Africa.
The Democrats’ plan also calls for $2 million to fund “organizing for feminist democratic principles” in Africa, according to Johnson.
Johnson highlighted the $3.9 million in LGBTQI+ democracy grants for the Western Balkans as an example of Democrats’ misplaced priorities.
“They want to spend 3.9 million of your hard-earned dollars for LGBTQI+ democracy grants in the Western Balkans,” Johnson said. “We are not doing that.”
He argued that Democrats are also trying to undo common-sense reforms enacted by Republicans that prevent illegal immigrants from accessing taxpayer-funded healthcare.
“This is a fact,” he said. “They would add illegal aliens and non-citizens back to taxpayer-funded benefits. It would cost taxpayers nearly $200 billion.”
Johnson further warned that Democrats want to roll back modest work requirements placed on able-bodied young men without dependents.
At the same time, Democrats are pushing to make COVID-era Obamacare subsidies permanent, with no income limits or meaningful reforms.
Johnson said this approach would not only punish working Americans but also reward dependency and mismanagement.
The Speaker accused Democrats of prioritizing ideological projects over the immediate needs of the American people.
He said their proposal exposes how out of touch the party has become, highlighting spending for causes abroad while Americans face uncertainty at home.
“This is not about keeping the lights on,” Johnson said. “This is about Democrats trying to use the shutdown as leverage to fund their far-left agenda.”
Johnson reminded reporters that Republicans have already passed legislation to reopen the government responsibly, without any of the unrelated political riders Democrats insist on including.
The Republican plan, he said, would maintain government operations, protect taxpayers, and prevent wasteful spending abroad.
Johnson also pointed out that the Democrats’ proposal would restore funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, sending a half-billion dollars to what he described as liberal media outlets that have long benefited from taxpayer subsidies.
He described it as another example of Democrats using government funding to reward their political allies rather than serving the public good.
“These are not the priorities of the American people,” Johnson said firmly. “They are the priorities of a radical political class that has forgotten who they work for.”
The Speaker ended his remarks by calling on Democrats to stop the political games and join Republicans in reopening the government immediately.
“We have a clean bill ready to go,” he said. “It keeps the government open, pays our troops, secures the border, and protects hardworking taxpayers. Democrats need to stop holding America hostage.”
Johnson’s comments reflect growing frustration among House Republicans who say Democrats are using the shutdown to push through spending on social experiments, foreign projects, and activist groups under the guise of government funding.
He warned that such spending will only deepen America’s fiscal crisis and fuel public anger toward Washington’s political class.
“This is a moment for leadership,” Johnson concluded. “It’s time to put the American people first and end this shutdown—not by giving in to woke demands, but by standing firm for fiscal sanity and common sense.”
Seven out of ten people now believe that the Democratic Party is “out of touch“ with the actual issues of many Americans, according to a recent survey, which presents a frightening image for the party as it enters 2026. The results are based on a large survey conducted between November 2024 and June 2025 by the center-left research firm Welcome, which polled over half a million people. The findings show a growing gap between the Democratic Party’s platform and the interests of moderates, minorities, and working-class voters—the very group that formerly drove its success.
70% of voters think Democrats are focused on specialized social issues like “protecting the rights of undocumented immigrants” and “protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans,” ignoring more pressing issues like public safety, border security, and inflation, according to the Deciding to Win report. Only 51% of respondents believed Democrats were out of touch in 2013, but that percentage has now risen by over 20 points. In comparison, opinions of the Republican Party have marginally improved during the same time frame, falling from 70% in 2013 to 65% now.
Democrats need to reorient themselves to be politically viable, the research advises frankly. The group added, “Democrats must concentrate less on climate change, democracy, abortion, and identity and cultural issues and more on the issues that voters believe we prioritize too little: the economy, the cost of living, health care, border security, and public safety.” Additionally, it called on the party to “moderate our positions on issues where our agenda is unpopular,” specifically those related to crime, immigration, and energy policy.
While 59% of voters disagree, only 39% believe the Democratic Party now has the correct priorities. According to the poll, Democrats are overwhelmingly in favor of focusing on securing the border (53%), lowering everyday costs (79%), making health care affordable (74%), creating jobs and economic growth (74%), lowering middle-class taxes (66%), lowering crime (56%), and protecting Social Security and Medicare (82%). Priorities including defending illegal immigrants (23%), raising social program funding (24%), and promoting LGBTQ+ rights (25%), on the other hand, came in last.
Democrats seem to have suffered greatly among minority and blue-collar voters as a result of that disparity. Since 2012, the party’s popularity has decreased by 11 points among Black voters without a college degree, 15 points among Asian voters without a college degree, and 16 points among Latino voters without a college degree. Whites with college degrees were the only group to increase their support, by just 4%.
Welcome arrived at the conclusion that “winning does not happen by accident.” “It’s a decision—a decision to be methodical, strategic, and prepared to face challenging realities about the electorate.”
Those “difficult truths” might be reaching Democrats either too late or just in time.To join the Diamond and Silk Monthly Supporter Program, visit http://SupportDiamondandSilk.com.Lindell TV, VOCL, ChatDit, Rumble, TruthSocial, and Diamond and Silk Media are all excellent ways to stay connected with Diamond and Silk
The percentage of Americans who believe the Democratic Party is “out of touch” has increased by double-digits over the last decade, with 70% indicating the party is disconnected from the issues that matter to voters.
The Democratic Party is perceived as being overly-focused on “Protecting the rights of undocumented immigrants” and “Protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans” – alienating voters who care more about secure borders and crime reduction, a survey released Monday by Welcome, a center-left group, found.
“To win elections, Democrats need to make the following changes. First, we need to focus more on the issues voters do not think we prioritize enough (the economy, the cost of living, health care, border security, public safety), and focus less on the issues voters think we prioritize too highly (climate change, democracy, abortion, and identity and cultural issues),” read the conclusion of Welcome’s “Deciding to Win” survey.
“Second, we need to moderate our positions on issues where our agenda is unpopular, including immigration, public safety, energy production, and some identity and cultural issues,” the group noted.
In 2013, 51% of voters viewed the Democratic Party as “out of touch,” but the number surged to 70% in 2025, the pollster found.
Meanwhile, the Republican Party improved – going from 70% viewing it as “out of touch” in 2013, to 65% in 2025.
Welcome also highlighted polling showing only 39% of voters say the Democratic Party has the right priorities, while 59% of voters say Democrats do not.
The Democratic Party’s priorities should be “Protecting Social Security and Medicare” (82%); “Lowering everyday costs” (79%); “Making healthcare more affordable” (74%); “Creating jobs and economic growth” (74%); “Cutting taxes on the middle class” (66%); “Lowering the rate of crime” (56%); and “Securing the border” (53%), according to Welcome’s massive survey of more than 500,000 Americans.
The issues garnering the lowest level of support for Democratic prioritization included protecting illegal immigrants (23%), hiking taxes to increase spending on “social programs” (24%) and protecting LGBTQ rights (25%).
Voters viewed the Democratic Party as 26% more focused on illegal immigrant rights and 23% more focused on LGBTQ rights than they should be, in the survey conducted from Nov. 13, 2024 through June 18, 2025.
The party was also rated as being 21% more focused on securing the borders than it needed to be.
As a result of the party’s failure to align with the priorities of voters, support for Democrats “has declined significantly among working-class and minority voters since 2012,” particularly from moderates and conservatives in these categories, the pollster found.
Between 2012 and 2024, support for the Democratic Party only grew amongst college-educated white voters (+4%) and all college-educated voters (+2%).
Over the same period, the party hemorrhaged support from non-college-educated Latino voters (−16%), non-college-educated AAPI voters (−15%) and non-college-educated Black voters (−11%) among several other groups.
“It is essential that we make these strategic shifts because it is essential that we win,” Welcome’s conclusions continued.
“But winning does not happen by accident. Winning is a choice — a choice to be disciplined and strategic and to be willing to confront difficult truths about the electorate,” the group added.
No comments: