Mike Lawler and Hakeem Jeffries get into fiery shouting match: ‘Keep your mouth shut’

WASHINGTON — They’ve gone from government shutdown to shout down.

Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) got into an epic war of words with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) over his role in causing the partial government shutdown after catching him at the end of a Wednesday press conference.

Lawler had walked up to and called out Jeffries for not engaging in bipartisan negotiations with him to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits.

“Did your boss, Donald Trump, give you permission?” a smirking Jeffries snapped back as Lawler began confronting him in front of a group of reporters.

The Hudson Valley rep, who held up a copy of legislation to extend the ACA credits, denied that President Trump is his boss and recounted how Jeffries has repeatedly voted for spending patches in the past to avert government shutdowns.

“You’re making a show of this to make yourself relevant,” the Brooklyn Democrat sniped. “You’re embarrassing yourself right now.”

“It’s sad, you could sign onto this right now,” Lawler countered. “You have four Democrats on here. Why won’t you sign on?”

Another hallway confrontation between House lawmakers — Mike Lawler demanding Hakeem Jeffries sign onto a bipartisan bill temporarily extending enhanced ACA credits

“You’re embarrassing yourself,” Jeffries kept repeating pic.twitter.com/seGKlcMRiF

— Liz Elkind (@liz_elkind) October 8, 2025

Democrats have repeatedly blocked a GOP-backed continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded through Nov. 21.

They’ve demanded that the GOP reverse Medicaid reform and extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire by the end of the year, in exchange for breaking the Senate filibuster and allowing the CR to reopen the government.

Jeffries has dismissed calls for a temporary extension of those subsidies and called for it to be permanent as part of his demands to reopen the government.

During their verbal tussle, the top House Democrat needled Lawler over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (now known as the Working Families Tax Cut Act).

“I voted for a tax cut bill that gave the largest tax cut to Americans in history, including, by the way, the average New Yorker getting a $4,000 tax cut,” he said.

Jeffries chided that the megabill slashed funding for Medicaid, but Lawler countered that the GOP-backed reforms were aimed at rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.

“Listen, you’re not going to talk to me … and talk over me because you don’t want to hear what I have to say. So why don’t you just keep your mouth shut,” the House Minority Leader swiped.

He further accused Lawler of slashing taxes for his billionaire buddies, but the Republican rep explained that the megabill extended the standard deduction, which is regularly used by middle-class Americans, and increased the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap.

“Why are you here right now? Where are the rest of your Republican colleagues?” Jeffries sniped.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has kept the lower chamber out of session as a pressure tactic to get Senate Democrats to back the clean CR his chamber past last month. The idea is that the House is out of town and, therefore, unable to take up a modified CR despite Dem attempts to negotiate.

The two took turns exchanging insults, with Jeffries accusing Lawler of pulling off a stunt to boost his reelection prospects, while the Hudson Valley rep jabbed that the Brooklyn Democrat spent $42 million last cycle and “didn’t do that great.”

Lawler also poked at Jeffries over when he plans to endorse Democratic New York Mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani, noting his stunning attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Jeffries ignored that.

“I’ve indulged you. I’ve given you your fifteen minutes of fame,” Jeffries concluded after about five minutes of a back-and-forth, smiling as he walked away. “You’re a complete and total embarrassment… and you’re going down for defeat next year.”

Earlier in the day, Johnson tangled with Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) outside the speaker’s office as tensions flared in the Capitol.