WASHINGTON ― Home Republicans on Thursday got here up with a brand new plan to fund the federal government after billionaire Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump tanked their first one on Wednesday.
Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) instantly introduced the invoice to the Home ground in a fast-track method, requiring two-thirds assist for passage as an alternative of a easy majority. The invoice bombed by a vote of 174 to 235, with 38 Republicans voting no.
The failed invoice would have funded the federal government till March, offered billions in catastrophe help and likewise suspended the federal authorities’s borrowing restrict for 2 years ― a key Trump demand.
“The newly agreed to American Aid Act of 2024 will hold the Authorities open, fund our Nice Farmers and others, and supply aid for these severely impacted by the devastating hurricanes,” Trump mentioned on his web site earlier than the vote.
The federal government will shut down on Friday night time if Congress fails to behave.
Home Democrats mentioned earlier on Thursday they opposed including Trump’s demand to the funding bundle, and so they sharply criticized the brand new plan as quickly as particulars emerged.
“The Musk-Johnson proposal is just not critical,” Democratic chief Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) advised reporters. “It’s laughable. Excessive MAGA Republicans are driving us to a authorities shutdown.”
The earlier laws, the results of a bipartisan negotiation, omitted the debt ceiling provision and likewise included a number of different gadgets, together with a pay increase for lawmakers, that Musk and fellow billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy trashed as wasteful spending on Wednesday, prompting Speaker Johnson to desert the invoice.
Republicans gave the impression to be hoping that both Democrats had been bluffing about opposing a debt ceiling improve or that voters would blame them for a authorities shutdown if the invoice failed.
“If Democrats don’t need the federal government to close down, they higher play ball,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) advised reporters.
Jeffries slammed Republicans for pushing so as to add the debt ceiling demand to the invoice, saying they had been doing so with a view to cross deficit-financed tax cuts in Trump’s second time period.
“It’s been attention-grabbing to me that for many years the Republican Get together has lectured America about fiscal accountability, concerning the debt and deficit,” Jeffries mentioned. “It’s all the time been phony. This invoice proves it.”
It’s often Republicans who oppose elevating the debt ceiling. “There’s nothing on this you’re towards,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) mentioned.
However a number of GOP lawmakers mentioned they opposed the invoice partly due to the debt restrict provision.
“I’m not going to lift or droop the debt ceiling (racking up extra debt) with out vital & actual spending cuts connected to it,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) mentioned on-line in response to information of the deal.
Trump advised on Thursday that Roy needs to be changed with one other Republican.
“Chip Roy is simply one other bold man, with no expertise,” he wrote.
Because the Home voted, Johnson declined to say what would occur subsequent if the invoice failed.
“That is Washington,” he mentioned. “That is how lawmaking is completed.”
