Amid the political impasse that has kept the U.S. federal
government partially shut down, House Speaker Mike Johnson accused the
Democratic Party of including "irrelevant" budget requests in
negotiations to approve the spending package that would allow the government to
reopen.
During a press conference Tuesday, the Republican leader
listed a series of demands pushed by Democratic lawmakers, which he said divert
resources to international projects unrelated to the current budget crisis.
Among the items mentioned, Johnson highlighted:
$24.6 million for climate resilience programs in Honduras.
$13.4 million for civic engagement initiatives in Zimbabwe.
$3.9 million for LGBTQI+ democracy support grants in the
Balkans.
$2.9 million for desert locust control and reduction
projects in Africa.
$2 million for a principled feminist democratic organization
on the African continent.
Johnson called these items examples of the
"out-of-control spending" that characterizes the Democratic Party's
proposals and insisted that the funds should be focused on domestic priorities,
such as border security, strengthening the military, and reducing the deficit.
Disagreement over the allocation of funds is holding up
talks to pass a temporary spending resolution, necessary to avoid a prolonged
suspension of government services and the payment of hundreds of thousands of
public employees.