Trump-Backed Funding Plan Fails, Government Shutdown Looms

The Republican-led House of Representatives rejected a temporary funding plan backed by President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday, with just over 24 hours to spare before a US government shutdown, reports Bloomberg. The move capped an extraordinary two days in Washington that tested the incoming president's power.

Trump and advisor Elon Musk had pressured GOP lawmakers, including threats to oppose them in the next election, to abandon an earlier bipartisan deal. Trump insisted Republican leaders add a provision waiving or raising the federal debt limit before he takes office.

The bill, which would have also suspended the debt ceiling for two years, failed by a vote of 235 to 174, with 38 Republicans voting against it. Nearly all Democrats opposed the spending package.

"We will regroup and we will come up with another solution," House Speaker Mike Johnson said after the vote. Musk, on his social media platform X, blamed Democrats for the defeat of a "super fair & simple bill."

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries had dismissed the plan as "laughable," stating that "extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown." White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre likened it to a "giveaway for billionaires."

Government funding will lapse on Friday night without congressional action. The Trump-backed plan would have set March 14 as the new funding deadline.

"I'm mystified as to why anyone would vote against this bill," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole. "It extends important protections to the American people."

However, some Republicans criticized the plan's extension of the debt ceiling.

"To congratulate yourself because it's shorter in pages but increases the debt by $5 trillion is asinine," said Representative Chip Roy to the House. "And that is precisely what Republicans are doing."

Johnson had huddled with other Republicans for much of Wednesday evening and Thursday, trying to find a temporary funding plan acceptable to Trump.

Musk had criticized Johnson's earlier deal in a series of social media posts, calling for the defeat of any lawmaker who supported it.

The spending vote, initially expected to be relatively drama-free, was complicated by the inclusion of more than $100 billion in disaster aid and other sweeteners, such as a pay raise for lawmakers. These provisions drew the ire of Musk, whom Trump has appointed to lead an advisory Department of Government Efficiency.

The debt ceiling, an issue legislators hadn't anticipated confronting until next year, was thrust onto their pre-holiday agenda. Trump told NBC News that abolishing the debt ceiling entirely would be the "smartest thing" lawmakers could do.