House Republicans tried and failed Thursday evening to fast-track a measure to keep the government funded through a maneuver that required a two-thirds majority, pushing the government closer to a shutdown.
House GOP leaders can still bring it up through regular channels by sending it through committee, and this would enable them to try again to pass it with a simple majority. But dozens of Republicans voted against the measure, while only two Democrats voted in favor. The final tally was 174 in favor, 235 against and one present.
Lawmakers are racing to avoid a government shutdown when funding runs out on Friday night. The bill, which would keep the government funded through the spring and suspend the nation’s debt limit for two years, would still need approval from the Democratic-controlled Senate. The White House has indicated that President Biden would not sign the bill.
The new deal would extend government funding for three months, suspend the debt limit until January 2027 and provide $110 billion in disaster aid. It also includes health care policy extenders, funding for rebuilding Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and a renewal of the farm bill for one year.
The House descended into chaos Wednesday when a GOP revolt spurred by President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk sank the original deal that House Speaker Mike Johnson had reached with Democrats. Republicans huddled on Capitol Hill on Thursday crafting a new way forward, without input from Democrats.
Johnson defended the new bill Thursday night, saying some bipartisan measures are still included in the new version.
“The only change in this legislation is that we are going to push the debt limit to Jan. 30, of 2027,” Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said.
The new version is considerably slimmer at 116 pages, compared to the 1,547 pages in the original continuing resolution.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, said the proposal is “not serious” and called it “laughable.”
Trump immediately weighed in after its release, calling it a “SUCCESS” and “a very good deal.”
In a statement Thursday evening, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Mr. Biden “supports the bipartisan agreement to keep the government open, help communities recovering from disasters, and lower costs — not this giveaway for billionaires that Republicans are proposing at the 11th hour.”
Trump and the debt ceiling
As GOP anger grew over the original continuing resolution, the president-elect called on Republicans to strip out additional spending and add a new element instead: raising or abolishing the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling, which limits how much the government can borrow to pay its bills, is suspended until the first quarter of next year, and Trump said he’d prefer to force Mr. Biden to approve raising the debt ceiling so he wouldn’t have to.
Trump reiterated his position on Thursday in a phone conversation with CBS News’ Robert Costa.
“Number one, the debt ceiling should be thrown out entirely,” Trump said. “Number two, a lot of the different things they thought they’d receive [in a recently proposed spending deal] are now going to be thrown out, 100%. And we’ll see what happens. We’ll see whether or not we have a closure during the Biden administration. But if it’s going to take place, it’s going to take place during Biden, not during Trump.”
Still, Trump said the standoff could be resolved “in a number of ways that would be very good.”
While stripping out most of the additional funding from the now-collapsed deal is likely to satisfy many Republicans, Democrats spent the day slamming Johnson for walking away from their agreement. They argue Republicans will shoulder any blame for a potential shutdown.
Jeffries said earlier Thursday they were “resolved to continue to stand up for the best interests of the American people,” while lambasting House Republicans who he said “detonated” the bipartisan agreement because they “have been ordered to shut down the government.”
“We are prepared to move forward with the bipartisan agreement that we thought was negotiated in good faith with House Republicans, along with Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans, that meets the needs of the American people at this point in time,” Jeffries said. “We are fighting for everyday Americans who will be hurt by a reckless Republican shutdown.”
Jeffries said a shutdown can be avoided “if House Republicans will simply do what is right for the American people” by sticking by the bipartisan agreement. The minority leader outlined that he and the speaker are maintaining an “open line of communication” to see if they can “resolve this issue.” Jeffries called the debt limit issue and discussion “premature at best.”
Spending fight threatens Johnson’s speakership
The initial plan to keep the government funded and the chaos that surrounded it also prompted intense criticism of Johnson, including from members of his own party. The full House will vote to elect a speaker on Jan. 3 when the new Congress convenes, and one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie, has already indicated he won’t support him.
Trump has also been signaling that his support for Johnson is contingent on how the Louisiana Republican proceeds. The president-elect told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Johnson would “easily remain speaker” if he “acts decisively and tough” and eliminates “all of the traps being set by Democrats” in the spending package. Asked by NBC News if he still has confidence in Johnson, Trump replied, “We’ll see.”
“What they had yesterday was unacceptable,” Trump told NBC’s Garrett Haake. “In many ways it was unacceptable. It’s a Democrat trap.”
In addition to the slew of add-ons to the original spending bill, conservatives are angry with Johnson for carrying out the negotiating process largely outside of the view of rank-and-file members. Rep. Eric Burlison, a Missouri Republican, called it “a total dumpster fire.”
A handful of Republicans indicated their support for Johnson’s speakership in the new Congress is now in question. With such a narrow majority, it would take only a few to take him down. Massie, a Kentucky Republican, said flatly Wednesday that he won’t support Johnson in the speaker’s election.
“I’m not voting for him,” Massie said. “This solidifies it.”
In November, House Republicans backed Johnson to lead for another two years during their leadership elections. During the last speaker fight at the beginning of a new Congress in 2023, the slim Republican majority took 15 rounds to elect former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted from the role nine months later, partly due to his handling of government funding.