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US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said that Congress will try for the third time to pass a spending bill that would prevent a government shutdown by the deadline of midnight on Friday.
The Republican House leader declined to provide specific details about the measure, but said his party unanimously agreed to pay the salaries of government employees, including the military, and provide aid to farmers and victims of natural disasters.
“We are not going to cause a government shutdown,” Johnson told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Donald Trump has proactively tried to blame President Joe Biden and the Democrats if this happens close occurs, which may cause parts of the file to be temporarily closed government And suspending employees’ salaries.
“If there is going to be a government shutdown, let it start now, under the Biden administration, and not after January 20, under Trump,” the president-elect wrote on his Truth Social platform. “This is Biden's problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!”
TrumpHowever, the looming presence of Iran was the biggest complicating factor in the frenetic negotiations over a last-minute deal. The Republican and his allies, including billionaire adviser Elon Musk, torpedoed the initial bipartisan compromise between Republican and Democratic leaders earlier this week.
The resulting disruption has dramatically increased the risk of a shutdown before Christmas and created an escalating political crisis for Johnson, a Trump ally, as he grapples with how to unite his divided party and meet the demands of the next president.
Initial legislation would have kept the government open until March 14 and spent billions of dollars to help farmers and communities devastated by natural disasters. The 1,500-page bill also includes a host of other provisions, including restrictions on technology investment in China, pay increases for members of Congress and pediatric cancer research.
Musk objected to the bill on his social media platform, X, saying it was riddled with excessive spending. Johnson decided not to bring the bill to a vote after Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance opposed it.
Trump and Vance then also called on lawmakers to agree to extend the debt ceiling, limiting the amount of money the United States can borrow to meet its obligations.
Johnson obliged, trimming the bill to just over 100 pages and including a clause that would raise the debt ceiling for two years. This version was supported by Trump, and he pledged political consequences for any Republican who opposes it.
The House then resoundingly voted against the bill late Thursday night, sending Republicans who control the chamber back to the drawing board.
Democrats, angry that the bipartisan agreement was scrapped this week, blamed Musk for inserting himself into the process.
Democratic Representative Rosa DeLauro said of Musk on Thursday: “At the request of the richest man in the world, for whom no one voted, the US Congress has entered a state of chaos.”
On Friday, Trump doubled his attempt to convince lawmakers to agree to suspend the debt ceiling.
“Congress should get rid of the ridiculous debt ceiling, or perhaps extend it through 2029,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Without this, we should never make a deal.”
If a new bill is approved in the House on Friday, it will need to go to the Democratic-controlled Senate for approval, and then to Biden for his signature.
“I don't care to count the number of times I've mentioned it. … Our counterparts in the House, how harmful a government shutdown is, and how foolish it is to bet that your side won't take the blame for it,” Mitch McConnell, the outgoing Senate Republican leader, said on Friday. “However, if I took it personally every time my advice was not heeded, I probably would not have spent so much time on this particular job.”
