Republican spending bill backed by US president-elect Donald Trump failed in the US House of Representatives on Thursday, leaving Congress without a clear plan to avoid a rapid approach government shutdown this could disrupt Christmas travel.
By a vote of 174 to 235, the House rejected the spending package, which had been hastily assembled by Republican leaders after Trump and billionaire Elon Musk derailed a previous bipartisan deal.
Government funding is set to expire at midnight on Friday. If lawmakers fail to extend that deadline, the U.S. government will begin a partial shutdown that would cut off funding for everything from border control to national parks and eliminate the pay of more than 2 million federal workers. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has warned that travelers during the holiday season may face long lines at airports.
The bill largely resembles the previous version that Musk and Trump called an unnecessary giveaway to Democrats. It would have extended government funding until March, when Trump is in the White House and Republicans control both houses of Congress, and would have provided $100 billion in disaster aid and suspended debt. Republicans abandoned other items that had been included in the initial package, such as a pay raise for lawmakers and new rules for pharmacy benefit managers.
At Trump’s request, the new version also would have suspended national debt limits for two years — a maneuver that would make it easier to pass the dramatic tax cuts he has promised and set the stage for the federal debt to 36 trillion dollars continues. climb.
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Before the vote, Democrats and Republicans warned that the other party would be at fault if Congress allowed the government shutdown.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters the plan would avoid disruption, fix problems and make it easier for lawmakers to cut spending by hundreds of billions of dollars when Trump will take office next year.
“The government is too big, it does too many things and it does few things well,” he said.
Updated proposal draws criticism from Democrats and Republicans
Democrats blasted the bill, calling it a cover for a budget-busting tax cut that would largely benefit wealthy backers such as Musk, the world’s richest person, while burdening the country with trillions of dollars of additional debt.
“How dare you ever lecture America about fiscal responsibility? » said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries during the floor debate.
Some Republicans also objected that it would open the door to more debt without achieving spending cuts. “I am absolutely sickened by the party that is campaigning on fiscal responsibility,” said Republican Rep. Chip Roy.
Even if the bill had passed the House, it would have faced great difficulty in the Senate, currently controlled by Democrats. The White House said Democratic President Joe Biden did not support it.
Trump had urged lawmakers to vote in favor of the package and remove the debt ceiling before he takes office on January 20.
Previous fights over the debt ceiling have spooked financial markets because a U.S. government default would cause credit shocks around the world. The limit was suspended under an agreement that technically expires Jan. 1, although lawmakers likely won’t have to tackle the issue until the spring.
When he returns to office, Trump aims to pass tax cuts that could reduce revenue by $8 trillion over 10 years, leading to higher debt without offsetting spending cuts. He has pledged not to cut retirement and health benefits for the elderly, which make up a large part of the budget and are expected to increase significantly in coming years.
The last government shutdown occurred in December 2018 and January 2019, during Trump’s first term in the White House.
The unrest also threatened to unseat Johnson, a mild-mannered Louisianan who was unexpectedly thrust into the president’s office last year after the party’s right flank rejected then-President Kevin McCarthy over a government funding bill. Johnson repeatedly had to turn to Democrats for help in passing laws when he was unable to garner votes from his own party.
He tried the same maneuver on Thursday, but this time he was unsuccessful.
Several Republicans have said they will not vote for Johnson for president when Congress returns in January, potentially setting up a tumultuous new leadership battle in the weeks before Trump takes office.