A stopgap spending plan negotiated to avert a government shutdown appears stalled after President-elect Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk criticized it. The bill, which extended government funding at existing levels until March, included provisions for disaster relief, farm aid, and a Congressional pay raise. Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance called on Congress to approve a more streamlined bill and rejected Democrats' demands. Trump also urged Republicans to address the debt limit before his inauguration, threatening to fight Democrats if they don't.
Congress must pass a bill to fund the government before the end of the week. Congress must pass a bill to fund the government before the end of the week.
"Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF. It is Schumer and Biden who are holding up aid to our farmers and disaster relief," Trump and Vance said."Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried," he posted on his Truth Social platform.
"We are going to continue to work through the night to the morning to get an agreement we can bring to the floor," Scalise said, adding "hopefully tomorrow" the House can "get it resolved." Asked if the debt limit is going to be part of any new agreement, as Trump has called for, Scalise said: "We are not there yet. We are still having conversations with our members with a lot of other folks too just to make sure that everybody is on the same page. But we are still talking about some good ideas that will address some of the issues our members raised today. And then make sure we take care of the disaster victims.
He later posted that "No bills should be passed Congress until Jan 20, when @realDonaldTrump takes office." Johnson said Musk and Ramaswamy, the two DOGE leaders, are aware of the tough spot the speaker is in with a slim majority and Democratic control of the Senate and White House. DOGE is an outside-of-government operation.
Government Shutdown Funding Bill Donald Trump Congress Debt Limit