WASHINGTON – A day before a possible government shutdown, the House of Representatives on Thursday called for business funding and an end to the debt ceiling, as Democrats and dozens of Republicans refused to accede to President-elect Trump’s surprise demands. He firmly rejected the president’s new plan.
In a hastily called vote in the evening punctuated by outbursts of anger over a self-inflicted crisis, lawmakers fell short of the two-thirds threshold needed for passage, but House Speaker Mike Johnson said late Friday night He seemed determined to re-evaluate before the deadline.
After the vote, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “We’re going to come together again and come up with a different solution. I hope you’ll look forward to it.” The mixed bill did not even have a majority, and the bill was rejected by a vote of 174 to 235.
The result comes as Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk lashed out against Johnson’s bipartisan compromise agreement reached early by Republicans and Democrats to prevent a Christmas-time government shutdown. It turned out to be a major setback for him.
This foreshadows the chaos that will ensue if President Trump returns to the White House with Republicans in control of the House and Senate. In his first term, President Trump led Republicans into the longest government shutdown in history during the 2018 Christmas season, then interrupted the 2020 holidays and forced a do-over by forcing a bipartisan coronavirus relief bill. .
Hours earlier Thursday, President Trump announced, “Success in Washington!” He will run the government for three more months as he crafts a new package that adds $100.4 billion in disaster relief, including to hurricane-hit states, and allows additional borrowing through January 30, 2027.
“Speaker Mike Johnson and the House of Representatives have reached a very good agreement,” President Trump tweeted.
But Republicans largely negotiated on their own, spending 24 hours cutting out the redundancies opposed by conservatives and putting together a new plan, while resisting resistance from Democrats who were in no hurry to appease Trump and his mask demands. I hit a wall.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats were sticking to their original deal with Johnson and called the new deal “ridiculous.”
“This is not a serious proposal,” Jeffries said as he walked into the Democratic Party’s own closed-door caucus. Inside, Democrats were shouting, “That’s outrageous!”
Johnson had been struggling all day to figure out how to meet President Trump’s near-impossible demands and keep his job as federal agencies were told to prepare to shut down operations.
The new proposal trimmed the 1,500-page bill to 116 pages and removed a number of additions, most notably the first pay increase for MPs in more than a decade, which would have allowed increases of up to 3.8%. This drew particular scorn as Mr. Musk turned his social media army against the bill.
President Trump said early Thursday that if Johnson “acts decisively and forcefully” in crafting a new plan to raise the debt ceiling, “it’s easy for him to remain speaker” in the next Congress. A speaker in trouble.
And even if it doesn’t, the president-elect warned of challenges ahead for Johnson and Republicans in Congress.
“Anyone who supports a bill that does not respect the Democratic quicksand known as the debt ceiling should be removed and disposed of as quickly as possible,” President Trump told Fox News Digital.
The tumultuous incident, which occurred as lawmakers prepared to return home for the holidays, evokes fond memories of what Washington was like under Trump.
Musk and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance tried to blame Democrats, but rank-and-file Republicans helped scuttle Trump’s plan.
“They called for a shutdown,” Vance said of Democrats. “That’s exactly what they get.”
For Mr. Johnson, who faces his own problems ahead of a Jan. 3 vote to continue as House speaker, Mr. Trump’s demands are a significant weakening, breaking his promise with Democrats and spending the night trying to broker a new approach. forced to work late.
Trump allies have even floated the far-fetched idea of giving Musk the speaker’s gavel, since he doesn’t have to be a member of Congress. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia posted that she was “open” to the idea.
Democrats were beside themselves, thinking this was a fitting end to the most unproductive Congress in modern times.
“Here we are again in chaos,” said House Democratic Leader Katherine Clark, detailing the harm the government shutdown is doing to the American people. “So, for what? Because the unelected Elon Musk said, ‘We didn’t make this deal, but Donald Trump followed suit.’
“Now is the time to get back to bipartisan agreement,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said as he left the Capitol.
The debate in the House of Commons was heated, with MPs blaming each other for causing the chaos.
At one point, Rep. Marc Molinaro, who was presiding, slammed the speaker’s gavel so hard it broke.
The stakes are no more. Trump has publicly criticized those who oppose him.
Texas Rep. Chip Roy, a hardliner in the Republican Party, drew Trump’s ire by refusing to agree to the plan. Roy, in turn, told his Republican colleagues that he had no self-respect in piling up the national debt.
“It’s embarrassing!” exclaimed Roy, standing on the Democratic side of the aisle and pointing at his fellow Republicans.
The slimmed-down package includes federal funding to rebuild Baltimore’s collapsed Key Bridge, but another land transfer that could pave the way for a new Washington Commanders football stadium has been withdrawn.
Lawmakers from both parties are set to abandon a long list of other bipartisan bills that had gained support as they look to wrap up their work by the end of the year. Extending government funding until March 14th.
Adding a debt ceiling increase to what has been a bipartisan policy would be fatal for Republicans, who have always wanted to cut government and vote against more borrowing. About 30 Republicans voted against it.
Democrats have floated their own proposals to lift or eliminate the debt limit in the past, and Elizabeth Warren has suggested the same, and is open to negotiations to save Johnson from Trump. He doesn’t seem to have any intention of doing so – even before the next president takes office.
The current debt limit expires on January 1, 2025, so President Trump wants to get the issue off the table before taking the White House.
Mr. Musk is at the forefront of a new foray into politics. The world’s richest man used his social media platform X to amplify fears, prompting Republican lawmakers to call his office to oppose the plan.
Rep. Steve Womack, R-Arkansas and the senior appropriations lawmaker, said the bipartisan bill’s failure is an indication of what’s to come in the new year, saying, “This is probably a good preview for the 119th Congress at this point.” Deaf,” he said.
The White House Office of Management and Budget provided initial notice to agencies last week about the potential government shutdown plan, agency officials said.
Mr Johnson left Parliament late Thursday night with just two words when asked about his future path.
“Let’s see,” he replied.
—Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Stephen Groves, Farnoosh Amiri and Matt Brown contributed to this article.
