With hours to go before a midnight government shutdown, politicians in Washington were voting late on Friday on a new plan from House Speaker Mike Johnson that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, but drops President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the New Year.
Mr Johnson insisted Congress would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to shut ahead of the Christmas holiday season.
But the outcome was uncertain. Mr Trump doubled down on his insistence that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal — if not, he said in an early morning post, let the closures “start now”.
“We will not have a government shutdown,” Mr Johnson said ahead of the vote.
It is the third attempt from Mr Johnson, the beleaguered House speaker, to achieve one of the basic requirements of the federal government — keeping it open.
And it raises stark questions about whether the House speaker will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry Republican colleagues, and work alongside Mr Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk.
Mr Johnson had almost no choice but to ignore Mr Trump’s last-minute pressure for a debt ceiling increase. The speaker knows there will not be enough support within the Republican majority to pass any funding package, since many Republicans prefer to slash federal government, and will not allow more debt.
Instead, the Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate next year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with the routine operations of governing.
“So is this a Republican bill or a Democrat bill?” scoffed Mr Musk on social media ahead of the vote.
The new 118-page package under consideration would fund the government at current levels through March and adds 100 billion dollars (£79 billion) in disaster aid and 10 billion dollars (£7.9 billion) in agricultural assistance to farmers.
Gone would be Mr Trump’s demand for a debt ceiling, which Republican leaders told politicians would be debated as part of their tax and border packages in the New Year.
It is essentially the same deal that flopped the night before in a spectacular setback — opposed by most Democrats and some of the most conservative Republicans — minus Mr Trump’s demand to lift the debt ceiling for two years.
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries had been in contact with Mr Johnson, but heading into the evening vote Democrats were cool to this latest effort after the Republican speaker reneged on their original bipartisan compromise.
“Welcome back to the MAGA swamp,” Mr Jeffries posted.
Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said it looked like Mr Musk, an unelected official and the wealthiest man in the world, was calling the shots for Mr Trump and the Republicans.
“Who is in charge?” she asked during the debate.
Mr Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power but also the limits of his sway with Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Mr Musk, who is heading up the incoming administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency.
“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now,” Mr Trump posted early in the morning on social media.
Mr Trump does not fear government shutdowns the way Mr Johnson and the politicians see federal closures as political losers that harm the livelihoods of Americans.
The incoming Trump administration vows to slash the federal budget and sack thousands of employees. Mr Trump himself sparked the longest government shutdown in history in his first term at the White House, the month-long closures over the 2018-19 Christmas holiday and New Year period.
More importantly for the president-elect is his demand for pushing the thorny debt ceiling debate off the table before he returns to the White House.
The federal debt limit expires on January 1, and Mr Trump does not want the first months of his new administration saddled with tough negotiations in Congress to lift the nation’s borrowing capacity. It gives Democrats, who will be in the minority next year, leverage.
“Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling,” Trump posted — increasing his demand for a now five-year debt limit increase. “Without this, we should never make a deal.”
Johnson had tried at first to work around Mr Trump’s demands, and then appease them, but failed all around.
Mr Trump and Mr Musk unleashed their opposition — and social media army — on the original plan Mr Johnson presented, which was a 1,500-page bipartisan compromise he struck with Democrats that included the disaster aid for hard hit states, but did not address the debt ceiling situation.
A Trump-backed second plan, Thursday’s slimmed-down 116-page Bill with his preferred two-year debt limit increase into 2027, failed in a monumental defeat, rejected by most Democrats as an unserious effort — but also by conservative Republicans.
On Friday morning, Vice President-elect JD Vance and Mr Trump’s pick to be incoming Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, arrived early at the speaker’s office at the Capitol, where a group of holdouts from the hardline House Freedom Caucus were meeting Mr Johnson.
Later, during the lunchtime meeting of House Republicans in the Capitol basement, Mr Johnson asked for a show of hands as they determined the path forward, Republican Ralph Norman said.
Government workers have already been told to prepare for a federal shutdown which 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, has played a less public role in the debate, drawing criticism from Mr Trump and Republicans who are trying to shift the blame for any shutdown on him.
Mr Biden has been in discussions with Schumer and Jeffries, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.
But, she said: “Republicans blew up this deal. They did, and they need to fix this.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the original agreement “the quickest, simplest, and easiest way we can make sure the government stays open while delivering critical emergency aid to the American people.”
The speaker’s election is the first vote of the new Congress, which convenes on January 3, and Mr Johnson will need the support of almost every single House Republican from his razor-thin majority to ensure he can keep the gavel. Democrats will vote for Mr Jeffries.
At Turning Point USA’s conservative AmericaFest confab, Trump ally Steve Bannon stirred thousands of activists late on Thursday with a withering takedown of the Louisiana Republican.
“Clearly, Johnson is not up to the task. He’s gotta go,” Mr Bannon said, drawing cheers. He smiled and added: “President Trump? These are your people.”
