U.S. President-elect Donald Trump abruptly rejected a bipartisan plan Wednesday to prevent a Christmastime government shutdown, instead telling House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans to essentially renegotiate — days before a deadline when federal funding runs out.
Trump’s sudden entrance into the debate and new demands sent Congress spiraling as lawmakers are trying to wrap up work and head home for the holidays. It leaves Johnson scrambling to engineer a new plan before Friday’s deadline to keep government open.
“Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH,” Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance said in a statement.
The president-elect made an almost unrealistic proposal that combined the same continuation of government funds along with a much more controversial provision to raise the nation’s debt limit — something his own party routinely rejects. “Anything else is a betrayal of our country,” they wrote.
Democrats decried the GOP revolt over the stopgap measure, which would have also provided some $100 billion in disaster aid to states hammered by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and other natural disasters.
“House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
“And hurt the working class Americans they claim to support. You break the bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences that follow.”
Already, the massive 1,500-page bill was on the verge of collapse, as hard right conservatives rejected the increased spending, egged on by Trump’s billionaire ally Elon Musk who rejected the plan almost as soon as it was released late Tuesday night.
Rank-and-file lawmakers complained about the extra spending — which includes their first pay-raises in more than a decade — a shock after one of the most unproductive chaotic session in modern times. A number of Republicans were waiting for Trump to signal whether they should vote yes or no.
Even the addition of much-needed disaster aid, some $100.4 billion in the aftermath of hurricanes and other natural calamities that ravaged states this year, plus $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers failed to win over the budget-slashing GOP.
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“This should not pass,” Musk posted on his social media site X in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
The outcome comes as no surprise for Johnson, who like other Republican House speakers before him, has been unable to convince his majority to go along with the routine needs of federal government operations, which they would prefer to slash.
It all shows just how hard it will be for Republicans next year, as they seize control of the House, Senate and White House, to unify and lead the nation. And it underscores how much Johnson and the GOP leaders must depend on Trump’s blessing to see any legislative package over the finish line.
“What does President Trump want Republicans to do: vote for the CR or shut down government? Absent direction, confusion reigns,” said retiring Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, in a post on X.
Musk, who is heading the new Department of Government Efficiency was leading the charge against it, warned that “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!”
It’s not an idle threat coming from Musk, the world’s richest man, who helped bankroll Trump’s victory and can easily use his America PAC to make or break political careers.
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland said this is the problem with “an oligarchy a handful of wealthy people run everything and everyone is supposed to live in fear of them; and their wealth becomes an instrument of coercive power over everything.”
Democrats, who negotiated the final product with Johnson and Senate GOP leadership, will be expected to provide enough support to help Johnson ensure passage, as is often the case on big bills. Federal government funding runs out at midnight Friday.
“The sooner Congress acts, the better,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
The final package extends existing government programs and services at their current operating levels for a few more months, through March 14, 2025.
The stopgap measure is needed because Congress has failed to pass its annual appropriations bills to fund all the various agencies in the federal government, from the Pentagon and national security apparats, to the health, welfare, transportation and other routine domestic services. When the fiscal year ended on Sept. 30, Congress simply punted the problem by passing a temporary funding bill that expires Friday.
But the inches-thick bill goes beyond routine funding and tacks on several other measures that lawmakers are trying to push through to passage before the end of this congressional session, especially as some elected officials will not be returning in the new year.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., a called it essentially a junk sandwich, using a swear word. The chairman of the Freedom Caucus, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., said a lot of lawmakers “are a little disappointed at how this last week has worked out.”
And then there’s the pay-raise.
Some lawmakers expressed concern that the bill turns off a pay freeze provision that was included in the previous short-term spending measure. That change could allow a maximum pay adjustment of 3.8% or $6,600 in 2025, bringing their annual pay to $180,600, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
Members of Congress last got a raise in 2009, when the salary was increased 2.8% to $174,000 annually. If member pay had not been frozen since 2009, salaries would be about $217,900.
When adjusted for inflation, salaries have decreased about 31% from 2009, the research report said.
“By what measure do we deserve a pay increase?” said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C.
Among other provisions in the package, there’s full federal funding to rebuild Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed when struck by a cargo ship that reported losing power just before the crash. Federal taxpayers will be reimbursed through proceeds from insurance payments and litigation.
And there’s also a provision to transfer the land that is the site of the old RFK Stadium from the federal government to the District of Columbia, which could potentially lead to a new stadium for the Washington Commanders.
On the health care front, the legislation seeks to extend coverage of telehealth appointments for Medicare enrollees and rein in how much money pharmacy benefits managers — the companies that negotiate how and what drugs are covered by insurance plans — make off those deals.
The bill also includes provisions focused on countering China, including expanding on President Joe Biden’s executive order that seeks to restrict investments into countries that pose a national security threat to the United States. Blocking China’s high-tech ambitions is one of the few issues that enjoys broad support in Washington from both Republicans and Democrats.
Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report.
