One of former President Barack Obama's ex-secretaries just broke ranks. 

Jeh Johnson, the former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to Breitbart News, went on national television recently to argue that the Democrats ought to reopen the government.

Democrat leadership in Congress, as we shall see, disagrees.

Jeh Johnson: Dems Should Vote to Re-Open Governmenthttps://t.co/59lvmrmBLX

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) October 11, 2025

Johnson breaks ranks

Johnson broke ranks during an appearance on CNN's "The Source with Kaitlan Collins.

Johnson said:

I’m going to break from the party line here on this. I’m a Democrat. I’m with John Fetterman and Angus King. The problem I see here is that to pass the budget, it needs 60 votes in the Senate. And what is happening each year now, and what I fear is going to happen in the future, is the minority party wants to link that to some other very, very important issue.

Johnson went on to explain further what he means.

He continued:

Affordable health care is critical, obviously, but I fear that this is going to happen every year, every September, October, November. The most basic function of Congress is to fund the government, turn the lights on, keep the government working so that the three million people who are public servants are able to do what they do to serve all the rest of us.

Johnson went on to explicitly state, "I believe that Congress should vote to re-open the government."

Schumer disagrees

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has not responded directly to Johnson, but he has made his position on the shutdown clear: he is in favor of it continuing.

Schumer has garnered significant criticism for recently stating, "Every day [of the government shutdown] gets better for us."

Schumer's counterpart in the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), responded as follows:

Democrats couldn’t care less whether military families miss a paycheck tomorrow. In an interview posted this morning, the Democratic leader said, ‘Every day gets better for us'. This isn’t a political game. Democrats might feel that way, but I don’t know of anybody else that does. The longer this goes on, the more the American people realize that Democrats own this shutdown.

Vice President JD Vance also blasted Schumer, writing, "Better for Schumer. Worse for Americans. What a vile sentiment from an alleged leader in our country."

Senate Democrats rejected the latest attempt to reopen the government on Friday.