The Michael Knowles Show Introducing The Isabel Brown Show: Inside the Shutdown with Speaker Mike Johnson
Oct 5, 2025
Join Isabel Brown as she interviews Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Johnson provides an insider's look into the recent government shutdown, detailing the budget process and the factors leading to it. He criticizes the 1974 Budget Control Act and highlights the negative impacts on services like military pay and WIC. The discussion flows into Democratic strategies and youth engagement in conservative politics, emphasizing the importance of grassroots activism and hopeful messaging for the next generation.
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Why Regular Order Matters
- Congress is supposed to pass 12 separate appropriations bills each year to enable detailed debate and accountability.
- Omnibus bills skip that discipline and lead to poor stewardship and unchecked, massive spending.
Speaker Pushed For Appropriations Change
- Mike Johnson recounts becoming Speaker in October 2023 and committing to restore regular order in appropriations.
- He describes the slow effort to push Congress back to 12-bill appropriations as like pushing a boulder uphill.
What A Continuing Resolution Does
- With fiscal year deadlines, a short-term continuing resolution (CR) is a standard tool to buy time for finishing appropriations.
- Johnson argues Republicans passed a clean seven-week CR to allow negotiators to finish bills and avoid a shutdown.