The United States is even closer to a partial government shutdown as a new spending bill, which was backed by President-elect Donald Trump and his allies, failed to pass the House of Representatives on Thursday evening. If Congress doesn’t come to a resolution by Friday at 11:59 p.m., the shutdown is imminent. And after a few days of infighting among politicians, it’s looking more and more likely.
According to the Associated Press, “the bill fell 174-235, failing to earn even a majority in the Republican-controlled House.”
This is the second such bill rejected this week. The first option, which was a bipartisan deal that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson struck with Democrats, extended the government funding deadline until March 14, but it also included numerous unrelated measures, including a controversial pay raise for congressional lawmakers, the first since 2009.
The new bill also extended the government funding deadline until March 14, but it was much smaller at 116 pages compared to the previous bill’s 1,547 pages, and supported by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leaders.
This shows how much your voice matters!
And having a President like @realDonaldTrump means that your voice is finally heard. https://t.co/0a7QDJx9zt
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 19, 2024
According to Fox News, the new bill also included a proposal to “suspend the debt limit for two years until January 2027, still keeping it in Trump’s term but delaying that fight until after the 2026 Congressional midterm elections.”
Fox also reports that “Democrats, furious at Johnson for reneging on their original bipartisan deal, chanted ‘Hell no’ in their closed-door conference meeting on Thursday night to debate the bill” and that “members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus also said they would vote against the bill.” That includes Texas Congressman Chip Roy, who said he refuses to raise or suspend the debt ceiling.
“My position is simple — I am not going to raise or suspend the debt ceiling (racking up more debt) without significant & real spending cuts attached to it.” pic.twitter.com/WuPoTVlrtL
— Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) December 19, 2024
Lawmakers plan to try again before the deadline. “We’re going to do the right thing here,” Johnson said on Thursday evening.
