‘My kids could die!’: Tearful Republican military mom begs Mike Johnson for soldier pay during shutdown

I suspect Speaker of the House Representatives Mike Johnson isn’t going to be happy with the unfortunate staffer who booked him for a call-in appearance on C-SPAN.

What followed was a parade of regular Americans taking out their frustrations on the man who’s become the face of the government shutdown, with no one buying the GOP’s take that this is somehow all the Democrats’ fault.

The most memorable moment in this humiliation ritual was a distraught Virginia mother telling the visibly awkward Johnson that if he doesn’t do something about military pay during the shutdown, her kids could die:

A Virginia Republican called into C-SPAN and begged Mike Johnson to stop people’s health care premiums from doubling or tripling: “My kids could die. We don’t have the credit because of the medical bills I have to pay regularly. I think it’s awful, and the audacity of someone who… pic.twitter.com/5mHSWoVtMn

— Mike Nellis (@MikeNellis) October 9, 2025

The woman, who identified herself as Samantha, a longtime Republican, explained her dire circumstances to him, saying he was incensed by his recent comments about “not being open to pass any legislation to ensure the military gets paid”.

In a shaky voice, she went out to outline her situation, saying she has two “medically fragile children” and a husband with PTSD from two tours of Afghanistan who’s still serving. She went on to tell Johnson that if her husband isn’t paid on the 15th, “my children do not get the medication that’s needed for them to live their life”:

“My kids could die. We don’t have the credit because of the medical bills I have to pay regularly. I think it’s awful, and the audacity of someone who makes six figures a year to do this to military families is insane.”

Just political games

This should be a stark moment of reflection for Johnson as the reality of the political games he’s playing in Washington becomes apparent. Sure, from his perspective, this shutdown is being (ineffectually) used as a cudgel to beat the Dems with, but to regular folks it’s literally the difference between life and death.

Unfortunately, we sorely doubt whether Johnson has the capacity or willingness to engage in such self-reflection. He may have felt a twinge of guilt in the moment, but by the time he returned to his office, we’re betting that Samantha’s story had been all but forgotten as the Republic shutdown heads inexorably into its second week.

The GOP can bleat all it wants about how this is the Democrats fault, but when the Republicans control the presidency, the Senate, and the House, only the very stupid are buying that argument.