‘The Naysayers Said It Couldn’t Be Done, But They Were Wrong’: Speaker Johnson [WATCH]

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson announced that the House has passed all 12 appropriations bills, calling the development a historic achievement and a major step toward restoring regular order in Congress after years of reliance on large omnibus spending packages.

Johnson said the accomplishment marked a rare moment in modern congressional history, noting that many current House members had never experienced a full, member-driven appropriations process.

“This is a monumental achievement, and I think everyone in this room understands what has just been done here,” Johnson said.

“It’s this isn’t just a news conference. I would call it a celebration of sorts, despite the noise, despite our slim margins, despite the fact that most members in the House have never gone through a regular member driven appropriations process before this team got it done.”

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According to Johnson, House Republicans overcame skepticism from critics who argued that completing all appropriations bills individually was no longer possible.

He credited unity among members and months of sustained work by the Appropriations Committee.

“They stood together, and they did the hard work, and they got it done,” Johnson said.

“The house has now passed all 12 appropriations bills, and the Senate will soon do the same, and the President is going to sign them into law. What a concept.”

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Johnson emphasized the significance of the achievement, repeating the milestone to drive home its rarity.

“I want to say this again for emphasis, and I don’t want anybody to miss the significance of this,” he said.

“The House has passed 12 appropriations bills, and soon they’ll become law. Now, many people in this room said that that can never be done before. We had lots of naysayers, but we worked right through that. It really is a remarkable thing.”

He said passage of the full appropriations package also marked the end of Biden-era spending levels, replacing them with policies aligned with President Trump’s agenda.

“With the passage of this package of bills today, Republicans will have finally replaced the last of any Biden-era spending levels, with Trump-era spending levels and policies,” Johnson said.

“We’ve spent less, we’ve saved more taxpayer dollars. We’ve codified efforts to remove waste and fraud and abuse. We’ve advanced a full budget that provides real teeth and delivers the America first agenda, just as we promised that we would.”

Johnson described the effort as the most substantial progress toward restoring regular order in Congress in many years, pointing to the work of the Appropriations Committee and its leadership.

“This is the most significant progress towards restoring regular order in this institution in many years, and everybody here knows that,” Johnson said.

“And it’s because of the work of the appropriators standing behind me.”

He singled out the committee’s leadership and staff for their role in completing the process.

“Our appropriators, this team led so well by Chairman Cole, worked day and night for months to produce this outcome,” Johnson said.

“It wasn’t easy. It took a lot of work.”

Johnson compared the process to rebuilding a skill Congress had lost over time.

“We had to rebuild the muscle memory, as you’ve heard me use the metaphor,” he said.

“It’s like trying to push a boulder up a hill, but this group did it.”

Johnson criticized the long-standing practice of governing through omnibus spending bills, arguing that it undermines accountability and constitutional authority.

“Washington has just become far too accustomed to governance by omnibus,” he said.

“And governing by omnibus is not the way it’s supposed to work. It’s not how the Founding Fathers designed this system to work because it’s not responsible, it’s not good stewardship, and it’s bad policy, it’s bad politics, and it weakens our article one authority.”

He said the House broke that pattern by returning to a committee-led, member-driven process.

“We break bad habits by replacing them with healthy ones, and that’s what we’ve done here,” Johnson said.

“And I want to be very clear, this is a committee led, member driven funding package.”

Johnson concluded by praising House Republicans for demonstrating that the appropriations process can still function as intended.

“With the passage of these bills today, Republicans have demonstrated that the appropriations process is alive and well, and we are changing this institution to work for the people, to make it work better,” he said.

“I wanted to be here to kick it off and give my gratitude to these members for their extraordinary work, their heroes among us, okay, and they’re all being patted on the back and applauded, and they deserve it, because they know what they’ve accomplished here, and I think you do as well.”

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