Last Update December 20, 2024 04:43am ET

President-elect Donald Trump encouraged Republicans to block the massive stop-gap funding measure put forward by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and instead support a streamlined package that would deliver aid to farmers and those impacted by natural disaster.

Covered by: Danielle Wallace, Chad Pergram , Tyler Olson, Elizabeth Elkind, Brooke Singman, Morgan Phillips, Anders Hagstrom, Stepheny Price, Breanne Deppisch, Liz Elkind, Julia Johnson, Elizabeth Pritchett and Bradford Betz

FAST FACTS:

•  President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance argued that the 1,547-page interim spending bill “would give sweetheart provisions for government censors and for Liz Cheney.” They also decried how the package would “make it easier to hide the records of the corrupt January 6 committee—which accomplished nothing for the American people and hid security failures that happened that day” and “would also give Congress a pay increase while many Americans are struggling this Christmas.” 
•  A streamlined version of the bill backed by Trump to avert a partial government shutdown failed to pass the House of Representatives on Thursday night. The bill, which needed two-thirds of the House chamber to pass, fell 174 to 235. The deadline to avoid a shutdown is late Friday. It comes after two days of chaos in Congress as lawmakers fought among themselves about a path forward on government spending. The national debt has soared to over $36 trillion, and the national deficit is over $1.8 trillion. 
•  Trump and Vance said they want a streamlined spending bill that “doesn’t give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want,” arguing that instead “Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025.” 

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8 hour(s) ago

PINNED

Musk blames House Democrats for the failed spending bill vote

Elon Musk with President-elect Trump.

Elon Musk on Thursday sought to blame House Democrats for the failed spending bill, posting on X that the “plan b” legislation as a “super fair” and “simple bill” that earned the votes of just two Democrats in the chamber.

The new spending deal, which was wrangled to the floor for a vote by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Thursday, one day after Musk and President-elect Trump heavily opposed the first, bipartisan spending bill, failed to clear the House by a 174-235 vote.

Just two Democrats voted for the legislation, which Musk noted on Twitter.

“A super fair & simple bill was put to a vote and only 2 Democrats in Congress were in favor,” he said, adding that therefore, “responsibility for the shutdown rests squarely on the shoulders” of House minority leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

Still, the number of Republicans who ultimately failed to fall in line Thursday evening could signal larger challenges ahead for Trump, who had sought to bend Johnson and others in the chamber’s GOP majority to his political will and pass through a new bill with a higher debt ceiling.

Thirty-eight Republicans also voted against the legislation, signaling more troubles potentially on the horizon.

Posted by Breanne Deppisch Share

24 min(s) ago

Florida GOP Rep. Luna says there is ‘no plan to cut a deal with Dems’

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., talks with reporters outside the U.S. Capitol. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., posted on her X account early Friday morning that there is “no plan to cut a deal with Dems” in order to pass the spending bill after two days of chaos on Capitol Hill.

At 12:43 a.m., Luna wrote that discussions are ongoing and voting is set to take place at around 10 a.m. Friday, adding that she will post more details in the morning but lawmakers are “getting this done.”

“Sticking to Trump’s plan + some (where cuts can come from),” she wrote, in part. “No plan to cut a deal with Dems.”

Luna said earlier Thursday evening that she was optimistic a shutdown could be avoided.

Lawmakers have to come to a decision by 11:59 p.m. Friday in order for that to happen.

Posted by Elizabeth Pritchett Share

2 hour(s) ago

Trump says Congress must get rid of or extend ‘ridiculous Debt Ceiling’

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a news conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort on December 16, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

President-elect Trump early Friday called for Congress to either get rid of or extend the debt ceiling, possibly through 2029.

“Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Without this, we should never make a deal. Remember, the pressure is on whoever is President.”

The post comes hours after House lawmakers rejected a Trump-backed plan to fund operations and suspend the debt ceiling.

Earlier Thursday, Trump was touting “SUCCESS in Washington!” in coming up with the new plan that would keep government running for three more months, add more than $100 billion in disaster assistance and allow more borrowing through Jan. 30, 2027.

Lawmakers have until Friday at midnight to pass a new budget plan. 

Posted by Bradford Betz Share

3 hour(s) ago

Sen. Warren says failed spending bill vote is ‘reminder’ Elon Musk runs the GOP

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Thursday night that the failed bipartisan government spending bill, which was heavily opposed by Elon Musk and President-elect Trump, is “the reminder” that Musk “now runs the Republican Party.”

During an appearance on CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlan Collins,” the Massachusetts Democrat said the timeline on how the bill collapsed shows to her “that Elon’s number one.”

“He’s the one who started tweeting at 4:30 this morning about what a bad deal this was and how terrible it was,” Warren said. “And Donald Trump trails along much, much later and says, yeah, terrible deal.”

Collins then asked Warren if she thinks Musk is in charge instead of the president-elect, to which the senator said, “I think that’s pretty clear.”

“Look at what was ultimately proposed,” she said. “It was not Donald Trump’s proposal that went to the House. It was Elon Musk’s proposal.”

Posted by Elizabeth Pritchett Share

5 hour(s) ago

GOP lawmaker says budget crisis is probably ‘a good trailer’ of incoming Congress

Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., gives a tour in the the U.S. Capitol Rotunda before the House passed a spending package to fund the government until September, on Friday, March 22, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., on Thursday weighed in on the collapse of a bipartisan government bill, saying it’s “probably a good trailer for the 119th Congress.”

Womack’s comments come in response to the House resoundingly rejecting a new plan, backed by President-elect Trump, to fund operations and suspend the debt ceiling.

The collapse of the new proposal – which was whittled down to 116 pages from 1,500 pages – came a day ahead of Friday’s midnight deadline, putting the spotlight on House Speaker Mike Johnson, who will be fighting to keep his job.

Trump’s allies have floated the far-fetched idea of giving the president-elect’s billionaire ally Elon Musk the speaker’s gavel – since the speaker is not required to a member of Congress.

Appearing on CNN earlier Thursday, Womack called the situation on Capitol Hill “chaotic.” Asked if he would support Musk as House Speaker, Womack said, “I don’t think that’s a realistic idea.”

“First of all, Elon’s got to want to do it. And I think when he looks at what Mike Johnson has been through, what [former House Speaker] Kevin McCarthy has been through, what all Speakers have to go through, he’ll probably find that launching and recovering rockets and building EV’s, revitalizing social media platforms, is a heck of a lot easier and much more profitable than becoming Speaker of the House,” Womack said.