House rejects Donald Trump-backed plan on government shutdown

The House rejected Presidentelect Donald Trumps new plan on Thursday to fund federal operations and suspend the debt ceiling a day before a government shutdown as Democrats refused to accommodate his sudden demands and the quick fix cobbled together by Republican leadersIn a hastilyconvened evening vote punctuated by angry outbursts over the selfmade crisis the lawmakers failed to reach the twothirds threshold needed for passage but House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared determined to try again before Fridays midnight deadlineWe are going to do the right thing here Johnson said ahead of the vote But he did not even get a majority with the bill failing 174235 The outcome proved a massive setback for Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk who rampaged against Johnsons bipartisan compromise which Republicans and Democrats had reached earlier to prevent a Christmastime government shutdownIt provides a preview of the turbulence ahead when Trump returns to the White House with Republican control of the House and Senate During his first term Trump led Republicans into the longest government shutdown in history during the 2018 Christmas season and interrupted the holidays in 2020 by tanking a bipartisan COVIDrelief bill and forcing a dooverHours earlier Trump announced SUCCESS in Washington in coming up with the new package which would keep government running for three more months add USD 1004 billion in disaster assistance including for hurricanehit states and allow more borrowing through January 30 2027Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal Trump posted But Republicans who had spent 24 hours largely negotiating with themselves to come up with the new plan ran into a wall of resistance from Democrats who were were in no hurry to appease demands from Trump or his billionaire ally MuskHouse Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats were sticking with the original deal with Johnson and called the new one laughable It is not a serious proposal Jeffries said as he walked to Democrats own closeddoor caucus meeting Inside Democrats were chanting Hell noAll day Johnson had been fighting to figure out how to meet Trumps sudden demands and keep his own job while federal offices are being told to prepare to shutter operations The new proposal whittled the 1500page bill to 116 pages and dropped a number of addons notably the first pay raise for lawmakers in more than a decade which could have allowed as much as a 38per cent bump That drew particular scorn as Musk turned his social media army against the billTrump said early on Thursday that Johnson will easily remain speaker for the next Congress if he acts decisively and tough in coming up with a new plan to also raise the debt limit a stunning request just before the Christmas holidays that has put the beleaguered speaker in a bindAnd if not the presidentelect warned of trouble ahead for Johnson and Republicans in Congress Anybody that supports a bill that does not take care of the Democrat quicksand known as the debt ceiling should be primaried and disposed of as quickly as possible Trump told Fox News DigitalThe tumultuous turn of events coming as lawmakers were preparing to head home for the holidays sparks a familiar reminder of what it is like in Trumprun Washington For Johnson who faces his own problems ahead of a January 3 House vote to remain speaker Trumps demands left him severely weakened forced to abandon his word with Democrats and work into the night to broker the new approachTrumps allies even floated the farfetched idea of giving Musk the speakers gavel since the speaker is not required to be a member of the Congress Rep Majorie Taylor Greene RGa posted she was open to the idea Democrats were beside themselves seeing this as a fitting coda after one of the most unproductive congressional sessions in modern timesHere we are once again in chaos said House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark who detailed the harm a government shutdown would cause Americans And what for Because Elon Musk an unelected man said Were not doing this deal and Donald Trump followed alongThe debate in the House chamber grew heated as lawmakers blamed each other for the mess At one point Rep Marc Molinaro who was presiding over the debate slammed the speakers gavel with such force that it broke The stakes could not be higher Trump was publicly turning on those who opposed himOne hardline Republican Rep Chip Roy of Texas drew Trumps ire for refusing to go along with the plan and telling colleagues they had no selfrespect for piling onto the nations debt It is shameful Roy thundered standing on the Democratic side of the aisle and pointing at his fellow RepublicansThe slimmeddown package does include federal funds to rebuild Baltimores collapsed Key Bridge but dropped a separate land transfer that could have paved the way for a new Washington Commanders football stadium But it abandons a long list of other bipartisan bills that had support as lawmakers in both parties try to wrap work for the year It extends government funds through March 14Adding an increase in the debt ceiling to what had been a bipartisan package is a showstopper for Republicans who routinely vote against more borrowing and Democrats who were not about to give into Trumps demands without a price