Top House Democrats are pushing back hard against accusations from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) that they’ve walked away from the negotiations over government spending, saying it’s Republicans who have abandoned the talks to address internal differences in the GOP.

“Projection,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said, adding that Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) "has been trying to get Republicans to respond to her for weeks — weeks.”

Johnson stirred the finger pointing Thursday morning when he blamed Democrats for the failure of negotiators to reach a top-line number to guide the federal funding effort. Without congressional action, large parts of the government would shut down after March 14.

“Leader Jeffries and others seem to be trying to set up some sort of government shutdown,” Johnson told reporters in the Capitol.

“We were........

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