Congress faces chaos, threat of shutdown as Trump, Musk criticize spending deal
The US could face a government shutdown at midnight Saturday after President-elect Donald Trump called on Republican lawmakers to reject a bipartisan funding bill that would have kept the government funded until March.
Trump urged Congress to repeal the agreement and pass a watered-down version with fewer provisions. The bill was heavily criticized by tech billionaire Elon Musk following his intervention.
Congressman Steve Scalise, the Republican House majority leader, indicated on Wednesday night that the bill was dead after Trump condemned it.
A short-term funding bill to prevent federal government offices from being closed starting Saturday would need to be passed by Congress by the end of the week.
Now, the Republican leadership must go back to the drawing board, and they only have until 23:59 EDT (04:59 GMT) to reach an agreement before funding runs out and the government shuts down.
The government shutdown will leave federal services — from the National Park Service to the Border Patrol — limited and beginning to wind down operations this weekend.
Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance dealt a final blow to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s bipartisan funding bill on Wednesday night after a pressure campaign led by Mr.
Mr Musk, whom Trump has tasked with cutting government spending in his future administration, lobbied heavily against the existing deal with repeated false statements on Wednesday against the bill.
The president-elect and vice president are pushing for streamlined legislation that does not include Democratic-backed provisions that Johnson negotiated with his colleagues.
The now-expired bipartisan agreement would have extended government funding through March 14 — several months after Trump returns to the White House.
The legislation is necessary because Congress never passed a budget for the 2025 fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1. Instead, lawmakers opted to pass a short-term funding extension until December 20.
In a joint statement, they also called on Congress to raise the debt ceiling, which determines how much the government can borrow to pay its bills, and to limit funding legislation to temporary spending and disaster relief. .
The statement said, “Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025. The only way to do this is to pass the debt ceiling without Democrat gifts. There is a temporary funding bill with an increase in.” Reading.
He called anything else a “betrayal of our country.”
In a post on his social media site, Truth Social, Trump threatened to help vote out “any Republican” who voted in favor of the current version of the bill, which was unveiled Tuesday.
He said, “If the Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, screw them.”
Johnson’s 1,500-page continuing resolution included more than $110bn (£88bn) in emergency disaster relief and $30bn (£23bn) in aid to farmers. It includes the first pay raise for lawmakers since 2009, federal funds to rebuild a collapsed bridge in Baltimore, health care reform and provisions to bar hotels and live event venues from misleading advertising.
It’s unclear how Johnson plans to proceed. Both the parties are meeting on Thursday to decide the future path of their party.
Democrats are unlikely to help Johnson support the amended funding bill, as they accuse him of breaking their bipartisan agreement.
“You break this bipartisan agreement, you are responsible for the consequences that follow,” Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries posted on Twitter.
After Trump came out in opposition to the bill, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a statement saying, “Republicans need to stop playing politics with this bipartisan deal or they will hurt hard-working Americans and create instability across the country.” Will produce.”
President Joe Biden’s spokesperson added, “Initiating a harmful government shutdown will hurt families.” He added: “A deal is a deal. Republicans should keep their word.”
There have been 21 US government shutdowns or partial shutdowns over the past five decades – the longest of which was during Trump’s first term when the government was closed for 35 days.
