House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) delivered a firm warning to his Democrat colleagues on Monday as the partial government shutdown drags past the two-week mark.

“We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history unless Democrats drop their partisan demands and pass a clean, no-strings-attached budget to reopen the government and pay our federal workers,” Johnson said during a press conference Monday.

The partial government shutdown began 13 days ago when all but three Senate Democrats voted against the House-passed “clean” temporary funding measure that would provide necessary funds until late November. Passing the measure would require 60 votes in the Senate, meaning that Democrats would need to vote in favor in order to break the gridlock.

Democrats are calling for massive increases in temporary spending — some of which will go towards healthcare benefits for illegal aliens — and an extension of Obama-era Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that are set to expire.

Senators John Fetterman (D-PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Angus King (I-ME) are the only members of the Democratic Party caucus who have voted with Republicans to end the shutdown, which is now projected to last upwards of three weeks.

During Monday’s press conference, Johnson referenced comments made by then-President Barack Obama during a government shutdown in 2013. “There is one way out of this reckless and damaging Republican shutdown: Congress has to pass a budget that funds our government with no partisan strings attached,” Obama declared at the time.

“What I just read was a direct quote. Those are not my words. They belong to President Barack Obama. He was speaking there in 2013 when our government was shut down for 16 days,” Johnson said. “This would be the third-longest government shutdown in American history, that one would be.”

He added, “If Democrats keep up their obstruction here today, that’s where we’re going to be headed.”

The longest shutdown in U.S. history lasted 35 days, spanning between December 2018 and January of the following year. The second-longest was a 21-day shutdown under former President Bill Clinton between December 1995 and January 1996, followed by the shutdown under Obama.

At 13 days, the current shutdown is the fifth-longest in U.S. history, and is projected to drag on longer.

House Republicans have passed a seven-week temporary funding bill extending fiscal year (FY) 2025 federal funding levels through November 21. The measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR), is designed to give lawmakers more time to negotiate a longterm agreement on fiscal year 2026, which began on October 1.