Washington Just as leaders of both parties were hoping to adopt the interim legislation, President-elect Donald Trump criticized the bipartisan government funding package Wednesday afternoon, causing confusion.
Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance’s combined statement seriously jeopardizes the bill’s chances in the Republican-controlled House, where Trump has considerable sway.
The government would have remained open until March 14 under the law. If Congress does not take action, the shutdown will take place on Saturday at 12:01 a.m. As of right now, there is no backup plan.
Republicans need to be tough and smart. Trump and Vance added, “CALL THEIR BLUFF if Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want.” Disaster relief and assistance to our farmers are being delayed by [President Joe] Biden and [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer.
Unexpectedly, Trump also insisted that the bill raise the debt ceiling, something that neither party had even been thinking about. Trump has stated that he wants it to occur under Biden’s leadership, and it is anticipated to occur in the middle of next year.
Trump and Vance stated that while raising the debt ceiling is not ideal, they would prefer to do so during Biden’s administration. What makes anyone believe that Democrats will collaborate on the debt ceiling during our administration in June if they won’t do so now? Now let’s debate this. Additionally, we want to enact a simplified funding package that denies Chuck Schumer and the Democrats their demands.
According to Trump’s remarks, raising the debt ceiling and passing a temporary financing agreement devoid of Democratic giveaways are the answers. Any other action would be a betrayal of our nation.
Trump later warned that Republicans who ignore his concerns about the package could face political repercussions.
“Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday night.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., responded to a question about whether the bill version that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced on Tuesday was dead by saying, “Yes.”
Top Republican lawmakers gathered in Johnson’s office Wednesday night to discuss the next steps after the speaker’s office refused to release a roadmap. Upon leaving Johnson’s office on Wednesday night, Vance informed reporters that he had a “productive conversation.” “We’re the middle of these negotiations,” he said, declining to provide any more information.
Johnson did not respond to a question regarding the state of negotiations as he was leaving the Capitol late Wednesday night, but Scalise stated, “We had a good, productive meeting.”
In order to facilitate those deliberations, the House announced that it will not be holding any additional votes on Wednesday.
‘Practicing what he preaches’
Following its unveiling on Tuesday night, the proposal was criticized by a number of conservatives both inside and outside of Congress.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., declared on Wednesday that this sandwich is an s— sandwich. There is no other way for me to put it. We are being compelled to take this stance.
The president-elect’s resistance to the CR, according to a Trump transition team official, is an example of “practicing what he preaches.”
The person, speaking of the Department of Government Efficiency, stated, “There is absolutely no way, I mean absolutely no, that he would support both DOGE and a 1500-page CR.” Trump has invited previous presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and entrepreneur Elon Musk to run.
The person responded, “He let everyone wonder what he wanted to do,” when asked why Trump waited until hours after Musk, Ramaswamy, and others had condemned the measure. Everyone was watching him. It was over when he moved. Prior to becoming president, he served as president.
Despite not being president yet, Trump has recently chimed in and attempted to influence policy in the federal budget dispute. Trump has already made an effort to mold foreign policy as effectively as possible as Biden’s popularity fades and his tenure in office comes to an end.
But Trump’s demand that the debt ceiling, which won’t be raised until next year, be included in a spending agreement that must be approved this weekend was met with skepticism from a number of Republicans.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, said Wednesday night that he had no issue with it, but he didn’t see why Senator Schumer would accept it. The urgency of an imminent default to win people over is not there. Isn’t that how it’s often raised? It almost never occurs when you’re on the verge of taking drastic measures or when a date is set.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, threatened to shut down the government if Republicans back out of the CR agreement.
Jeffries tweeted on X that House Republicans have been told to shut down the government. and harm the Americans in the working class whom they profess to defend. You are responsible for the repercussions if you violate the bipartisan agreement.
In a statement, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre criticized Trump for sabotaging the bill, saying, “Republicans need to stop playing politics with this bipartisan agreement or they will hurt hardworking Americans and create instability across the country.”
“A deal is a deal,” she went on to say. “Republicans should keep their word.”
Musk weighs in
Musk criticized the plan in a barrage of posts to his more than 200 million X followers within 24 hours of its release. He then called for a government shutdown that would last for a month until January 20, the day Trump takes office.
Musk wrote, “Kill the Bill.”
He added: One of the worst measures ever written. He also praised and congratulated the Republican members who declared they would vote against the plan.
Musk’s criticism of the bill, which would keep the government open until March 14 and include provisions to increase members’ salaries among many other policy changes negotiated by the two parties, gave some House Republicans hope.
In a post to Truth Social on Wednesday night, Trump also offered his thoughts on the proposed pay hike, stating that “this is not a good time for Congress to be asking for pay increases.”
Regarding the opposition, Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., remarked, “I love it.” And because I didn’t come up here to carry on with this careless funding procedure, I’m glad they’re taking notice.
Musk was also commended by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
There, Elon made a somewhat somber post. However, she added, “that’s the sentiment of the American people.” That’s why we prevailed on November 5. Everyone has had enough of excessive spending.
“The American people did not send their representatives to Washington to vote on a 1,500-page bill in less than 24 hours that spends $110 billion, adds $110 billion to the deficit, and without the opportunity to offer an amendment to perhaps pay for this bill,” said Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., who chairs the hard-right Freedom Caucus, on Wednesday. The procedure is flawed.
A government shutdown, according to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., would be regrettable because it would endanger many people, especially those who depend on the disaster assistance that is associated with it.
She also asked whether Musk was snooping on Trump.
“If Elon Musk is making the decisions, you have to ask Donald Trump,” Shaheen stated on Wednesday.
Johnson is being blamed by some Republicans for the debacle.
Johnson made a huge mess of this. According to a Senate GOP leadership aide familiar with the talks, he released an extremely terrible measure.
When asked if the bill was dead, the aide said, “It looks very bad, but we’ll see.”
What’s plan B?
Members of Congress have little time to devise a different plan. Passing a “clean” continuing resolution, or CR—a package that maintains government funding at current levels plus the disaster relief cash—is one proposal that is gaining traction, including among Johnson’s team, multiple sources told NBC News.
A clean CR without disaster financing or a CR with disaster funds and a farm bill extension are two more possibilities. Nothing is finalized, according to one member, so it’s unclear what the final bill will look like.
A cleaner version of the CR seems to be acceptable to far-right members who had opposed it due to the additional policy attachments.
“If that’s the case, that’s a big win for conservatism,” Burlison stated on Fox News. This town needs some outside pressure if we’re going to truly start doing things that are necessary to restore this republic, so I’m thrilled about the significant victory for Elon Musk and Ramaswamy and their efforts. (Both Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy co-chair Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency.”)
Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, agreed. For the folks in tents in North Carolina, we should only do a basic CR with a very basic, minimal amount of disaster supplementary. He added, “And that’s it.” We were discussing doing just that.
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