‘Where The Hell Have You Been?’: House Democrats Grill Republicans Over Nearly 8-Week Absence

For almost two months, Speaker Mike Johnson has kept the House out of session.

House Democrats blasted Republicans this week as members returned from an extended recess imposed by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).

“We’ve been looking for you guys everywhere. Where the hell have you been?” quipped Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) during a Wednesday floor speech. “Imagine my shock when I found out that you guys went home, eight weeks of taxpayer-funded paid vacation for Republicans.”

Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) similarly called out lawmakers for their nearly two-month absence as Johnson kept members out of session to put pressure on Democrats.

“It is a privilege to serve in Congress,” she said on Tuesday. “I want to know from our colleagues who I can literally hear laughing in the other room, where were you? Where were you for the last eight weeks?”

Johnson has argued that House members did their job by passing a short-term funding bill before Republicans skipped town in September. He insisted, too, on keeping the lower chamber out of session as the shutdown dragged on, claiming that it gave members the opportunity to do meaningful work in their home districts.