Washington (AP) President-elect Donald Trump’s latest plan to suspend the debt ceiling and fund operations was overwhelmingly rejected by the House on Thursday, one day before a possible government shutdown, as Democrats and dozens of Republicans refused to caving in to his abrupt demands.
The lawmakers failed to achieve the two-thirds barrier required for passage in a hurriedly called evening vote that was laced with angry outbursts over the self-made crisis, but House Speaker Mike Johnson seemed determined to reconsider before Friday’s midnight deadline.
Following the vote, Johnson stated, “We’re going to regroup and we will come up with another solution, so stay tuned.” The bill failed 174-235, meaning the haphazardly put together plan failed to even secure a majority.
The result was a huge blow to Trump and his billionaire ally, Elon Musk, who attacked Johnson’s bipartisan agreement that Democrats and Republicans had previously agreed to avoid a government shutdown over Christmas.
When Trump comes to the White House with Republican control of the House and Senate, it offers a sneak peek of the chaos that lies ahead. Trump led Republicans to the longest government shutdown in history during the 2018 Christmas season during his first term. In 2020, he wrecked a bipartisan COVID-relief plan and forced a do-over, disrupting the holidays.
Trump declared success in Washington hours earlier Thursday when he unveiled the new proposal, which would extend government operations for three more months, provide $100.4 billion in disaster aid, including to states affected by hurricanes, and permit more borrowing until January 30, 2027.
Trump wrote, “The House and Speaker Mike Johnson have reached a very good deal.”
However, Republicans encountered a wall of opposition from Democrats who were not in a rush to accede to requests from Musk or Trump after spending a day essentially negotiating with themselves to remove the frills that conservatives hated and create the new plan.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries referred to the new agreement with Johnson as absurd and stated that Democrats were sticking with the prior one.
As he made his way to the Democrats’ private caucus meeting, Jeffries declared that the proposition was not serious. Democrats were yelling, “Hell, no!” inside.
All day, Johnson had been fighting to figure out how to meetTrump salmost impossible demands and keep his own job while federal offices are being told to prepare to shutter operations.
The new proposal whittled the 1,500-page bill to 116 pages and dropped a number of add-ons notably the first pay raise for lawmakers in more than a decade, which could have allowed as much as a 3.8% bump. As Musk mobilized his social media army against the law, it garnered especially harsh criticism.
Trump said early 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 thebeleaguered speakerin a bind.
And if not, the president-elect warned oftrouble aheadfor Johnson and Republicans in Congress.
Anybody that supports a bill that doesn t 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 Digital.
Thetumultuous turn of events, coming as lawmakers were preparing to head home for the holidays, sparks a familiar reminder of what it s like in Trump-run Washington.
For Johnson, who faces his own problems ahead of a Jan. 3 House vote to remain speaker,Trump s demandsleft him severely weakened, forced to abandon his word with Democrats and work into the night to broker the new approach.
Trump s allies even floated the far-fetched idea of giving Musk the speaker s gavel, since the speaker is not required to be a member of the Congress. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., 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 times.
Here 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, We re not doing this deal, and Donald Trump followed along.
As he left the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, Now it s time to go back to the bipartisan agreement.
The debate in the House chamber grew heated as lawmakers blamed each other for the mess.
At one point, Rep. Marc Molinaro, who was presiding, slammed the speaker s gavel with such force that it broke.
The stakes couldn t be higher. Trump was publicly turning on those who opposed him.
One hardline Republican, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, drew Trump s ire for refusing to along with the plan. Roy in turn told his own GOP colleagues they had no self-respect for piling onto the nation s debt.
It s shameful! Roy thundered, standing on the Democratic side of the aisle and pointing at his fellow Republicans.
The slimmed-down package does include federal funds to rebuild Baltimore s collapsed Key Bridge, but dropped a separate land transfer that could have paved the way for a new Washington Commanders football stadium.
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 14.
Adding an increase in the debt ceiling to what had been a bipartisan package is a show-stopper for Republicans who want to slash government and routinely vote against more borrowing. Almost three dozen Republicans voted against it.
While Democrats have floated their own ideas in the past for lifting or even doing away with the debt limit caps Sen. Elizabeth Warren had suggested as much they appear to be in no bargaining mood to save Johnson from Trump even before the president-elect is sworn into office.
The current debt limit expires Jan. 1, 2025, and Trump wants the problem off the table before he joins the White House.
Musk, in his new foray into politics, led the charge. The wealthiest man in the world used his social media platform X to amplify the unrest, and GOP lawmakers were besieged with phone calls to their offices telling them to oppose the plan.
Rep. Steve Womack, an Arkansas Republican and senior appropriator, said the bipartisan bill s collapse signaled what s ahead in the new year, probably be a good trailer right now for the 119th Congress.
The White House s Office of Management and Budget had provided initial communication to agencies about possible shutdown planning last week, according to an official at the agency.
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By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Stephen Groves, Farnoush Amiri and Matt Brown contributed to this story.
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