Hours before the government shuts down at midnight, the House approved a new plan late Friday from House Speaker Mike Johnson that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, but drops demands from President-elect Donald Trump to increase the debt limit in the year New.
Johnson insisted that Congress “will fulfill our obligations” and will not allow federal operations to be closed before the Christmas holiday season. But today’s outcome was uncertain after Trump reiterated his insistence that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal — and if not, he said in an early morning post, let the shutdowns start “now.”
The bill was approved by a vote of 366 to 34, and now goes to the Senate for speedy approval.
“We’re excited about this outcome,” Johnson said afterward, adding that he had spoken with Trump and the president-elect “was certainly happy about that outcome as well.”
It was the third attempt by Johnson, the embattled Speaker of the House, to achieve one of the federal government’s basic requirements — keeping it open. This raised stark questions about whether Johnson would be able to retain his position, facing angry colleagues in the Republican Party, and working alongside Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who called for legislative theatrics this time around.
Trump’s last-minute request was nearly impossible, and Johnson had almost no choice but to overcome his pressure to increase the debt ceiling. The speaker knew that there would not be enough support within the GOP majority to pass any funding package, because many Republicans favored cutting the federal government and certainly would not allow more debt.
Instead, Republicans, who will take full control of the White House, House and Senate next year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, show they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with routine operations. From the ruling.
“So is this a Republican bill or a Democratic bill?” Musk mocked on social media before the vote.
The new 118-page package would fund the government at current levels through March and add $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in farm aid for farmers.
Trump’s demand to raise the debt ceiling, which GOP leaders told lawmakers would be discussed as part of tax and border packages in the new year, has ended. Republicans made the so-called handshake deal to raise the debt limit at that time while also cutting spending by $2.5 trillion over 10 years.
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It’s essentially the same deal that failed the night before in a stunning setback — opposed by most Democrats and some more conservative Republicans — minus Trump’s debt ceiling demand.
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has been in contact with Johnson, but Democrats have not welcomed the latest effort after the Republican House speaker backed away from the original bipartisan compromise.
“Welcome back to the MAGA swamp,” Jeffries posted.
Representative Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said it appears that Musk, an unelected official and the richest man in the world, is the one making decisions for Trump and Republicans.
“Who’s in charge?” she asked during the discussion.
However, the White House supported the final bill, and Democrats provided more votes than Republicans to pass it. Nearly three dozen Republicans voted against it.
Trump, who has not yet been sworn in, is showing his power but also the limits of his influence in Congress, intervening and coordinating affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who heads the new State Department in the incoming administration. Government efficiency
“If there is a government shutdown, start now,” Trump wrote early in the morning on social media.
Trump does not fear a government shutdown the way Johnson and lawmakers see federal shutdowns as political losers that hurt Americans’ livelihoods. The incoming Trump administration pledged to cut the federal budget and fire thousands of employees. Trump himself sparked the longest government shutdown in history during his first term in the White House, a shutdown that lasted for a month over the 2018-2019 Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
Most important for the president-elect is his demand to keep the thorny debate over the debt ceiling off the table before he returns to the White House. The federal debt limit expires on January 1, and Trump does not want the first months of his new administration to be burdened by difficult negotiations in Congress to raise the country’s borrowing capacity. It gives Democrats, who will be in the minority next year, leverage.
“Congress should get rid of the ridiculous debt ceiling, or perhaps extend it through 2029,” Trump said, adding to his demand for a five-year debt limit increase now. “Without this, we should never make a deal.”
Johnson initially tried to appease Trump’s demands, but was eventually forced to circumvent them.
Trump and Musk unleashed their opposition — and the social media army — over Johnson’s original plan, which was a 1,500-page bipartisan compromise he reached with Democrats that included disaster aid for hard-hit states, but did not address the debt ceiling situation.
The second Trump-backed plan, a watered-down 116-page bill he introduced Thursday with a preferred two-year debt limit increase through 2027, failed in a devastating defeat, dismissed by most Democrats as a half-hearted effort — but also by conservative Republicans who reject that. Pile on the nation’s red ink.
On Friday morning, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and Ross Vought, Trump’s pick to be the new director of the Office of Management and Budget, arrived at the Capitol, where a group of opponents from the hard-line House Freedom Caucus were meeting with Johnson.
Later, during a lunchtime meeting of House Republicans in the Capitol basement, Johnson asked for a show of hands while outlining the way forward, Republican Rep. Ralph Norman said.
Government employees have already been told to prepare for a federal shutdown that would send millions of employees — and members of the military — into the holiday season without pay.
President Joe Biden, in his final weeks in office, played a less public role in the debate, drawing criticism from Trump and Republicans who are trying to blame him for any shutdown.
Biden was in discussions with Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “Republicans ruined this deal.” “They did this, and they need to fix this.”
At one point, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell stepped in to remind his colleagues “how damaging a government shutdown would be, and how foolish it is to bet your side won’t take the blame for it.”
The speaker election is the first vote of the new Congress, which convenes on January 3, and Johnson will need the support of nearly every House Republican from his slim majority to ensure he can keep the gavel.
While some brought up Musk as a speaker, Johnson said he spoke with him as well. He said they talked about the “extraordinary challenges of this job.”
As the speaker staggered through Washington, the dangers he faced were plain to see. At the conservative AmericaFest convention at Turning Point USA, Trump ally Steve Bannon stirred up thousands of activists late Thursday by ousting the Louisiana Republican Party.
Johnson is clearly not up to the task. “He has to go,” Bannon said, drawing cheers.
Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves, Mary Clare Jalonick, Darlene Superville and Bill Barrow contributed to this report.
