WASHINGTON − There is a notable absence of holiday cheer on Capitol Hill, as lawmakers are under the gun to avoid a late-December government shutdown.
After Congress reached a bipartisan agreement Tuesday to keep the government funded through March, conservative fallout over the beefy bill toppled it. Current funding runs out end of day Friday.
Republicans across the political spectrum were already frustrated with the bill. Some are broadly opposed to the funding extensions while others felt left out of this process.
Then President-elect Donald Trump joined allies Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy in urging sitting lawmakers to vote against it, further eroding GOP support. Now, all eyes are on Capitol Hill as lawmakers race to see if they can find an agreement to keep the government open as next week’s holidays approach.
Keep up with USA TODAY for live updates throughout the day.
House Republicans told reporters on Thursday they anticipate a breakthrough on the government funding impasse before a shutdown happens this weekend.
“The vibe in the room is a collaborative one,” Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., said upon leaving Speaker Mike Johnson’s office in the U.S. Capitol. “We’re making progress.”Johnson declined to go into detail over the discussions in the speaker’s office. “Ultimately, this package is going to get done tremendous things,” he said, adding: “We’re going to end up in a really, really good place. And listen, it’s not always going to be a smooth journey, this deal is going to end up in a good spot.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said she expected the House to vote later Thursday on the issue but wouldn’t specify if that would entail a new version of a continuing resolution different from the one Speaker Mike Johnson and Democrats unveiled earlier this week.
– Sudiksha Kochi
The debt ceiling is the limit placed by Congress on the amount of debt the government can accrue. In order to pay its bills to those it borrowed from and dole out money for everything from Medicare benefits to military salaries, the government needs more money, so the debt ceiling has to be raised.
Created in 1917, the legislative cap has to be raised by a majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
That vote does not pledge any additional spending. It merely raises the limit on the amount of money the government can borrow to pay back commitments already agreed upon by Congress.
– Anna Kaufman
No. The U.S. Postal Service remains unaffected by a government shutdown because it does not depend on Congress for funding.
In a statement posted to their website on Sept. 29, 2023, during risks of a government shutdown, USPS said their “operations will not be interrupted in the event of a government shutdown, and all Post Offices will remain open for business as usual.”
“Because we are an independent entity that is generally funded through the sale of our products and services, and not by tax dollars, our services will not be impacted by a government shutdown,” it said.
– Saman Shafiq
President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday said Congress should eliminate the debt ceiling, one day after the incoming president torpedoed a bipartisan deal hours earlier to fund the government before a looming shutdown heading into the end-of-year holidays.
Trump told NBC News in a phone interview that getting rid of the debt ceiling would be the “smartest thing it (Congress) could do,” adding, “I would support that entirely.”
The debt ceiling, which caps the amount the federal government can borrow, had previously not been on the table during negotiations over a stopgap spending bill before Friday’s midnight deadline to keep large parts of the U.S. government open.
A bipartisan deal reached earlier this week between House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democrats to fund the government through mid-March crumbled Wednesday after Trump came out against it and tech billionaire Elon Musk spent the day slamming the legislation on social media.
Republicans have balked at various add-ons in the 1,500-page bill, which includes pay increases for members of Congress, $100 billion in emergency relief and $21 billion for farmers who have experienced crop or livestock issues.
Trump now wants a clean spending bill passed without “Democrat giveaways,” combined with increasing the debt ceiling – or getting rid of it – while President Joe Biden remains in the White House.
– Joey Garrison
Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul threw billionaire Elon Musk’s name in the hat on Thursday to replace House Speaker Mike Johnson amidst the chaos on Capitol Hill.
“The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress,” Paul said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, Musk’s social media platform. “Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk… think about it… nothing’s impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds).”
Freedom Caucus member and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene echoed her support on the platform, saying that “The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday. This could be the way.”
Musk is not a member of Congress, and though all House speakers have been representatives, there is no rule saying that is a requirement.
– Sam Woodward
With just over two days until deadline came the death knell: President-elect Donald Trump told Fox and Friends he is “totally against” the funding extension.
“Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH,” Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance said in a statement opposing the current proposal. “If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF.”
Now House Republican leaders are scrambling for a plan B, potentially crafting a more bare-bones resolution that will win back enough support from their caucus. But if GOP members throw out the old version in favor of a cleaner funding extension, they risk losing backing from congressional Democrats who still control the Senate.
The process is already causing GOP rifts weeks before Trump is set to be sworn into office.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said he spoke with Trump Wednesday evening on the phone and that the president-elect expressed frustration with House Speaker Mike Johnson’s handling of the funding extension.“Is this how you want your government to run?” Hawley said he asked Trump. “I mean, these guys can’t manage their way out of a paper bag.”
Following the backlash from Trump and others, Speaker Johnson, R-La., spent hours holed up in his office Wednesday, visited by a rotating door of fellow Republicans seeking a path forward.
Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., said the day had been “pretty crazy,” upon exiting his meeting with Johnson.
“A lot of folks have had second thoughts (on the bill) and so now we gotta recalibrate,” he said.
Fellow Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole, appropriations chairman, did not answer repeated questions about the state of affairs while on his way into the speaker’s office.
–Riley Beggin and Sudiksha Kochi
“House Republicans will now own any harm that is visited upon the American people from a government shutdown or worse,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters.
Any deal House Republicans cut will have to go through Senate Democrats — who have little incentive to agree to GOP demands, given they will have no negotiating power under the coming year’s Republican trifecta.
A group of Senate Democratic Appropriations Committee members huddled on the Senate floor with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Wednesday night, but members did not indicate what Democrats may be willing to agree to.
“Republicans have a hard time governing,” said Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. “This just shows what we’re gonna be dealing with over the next two years.”
As of end of day Wednesday, Congress has 48 hours to find a way to keep the government funded and running.
–Savannah Kuchar
Key to Republicans’ objections were the various add-ons, which Trump and Vance called “sweetheart provisions.”
From health care reforms to congressional pay raises, the 1,547-page bill included a myriad of extra provisions that many in the GOP caucus have called on Johnson to remove.
But some Republicans say they don’t want to see everything get slashed.
Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., says he won’t vote for the funding extension if it doesn’t have disaster funding in it.“To anybody who thinks disaster relief is pork, come to where I live,” he said.
The current proposed resolution includes about $100 billion in disaster aid.Graham added that the government spends a lot of money it shouldn’t, but “there’s a time for the government” when people have lost everything.“This is an absolute moral imperative to get money into the system to help these people get back on their feet.”
–Riley Beggin
Should Congress fail to agree on and pass a funding extension, America would face a government shutdown with wide-ranging impacts.
In that case, federal agencies except those determined to be “essential” − such as the U.S. Postal Service, Medicare and Social Security − would stop work.
Federal employees would be furloughed through a shutdown, while those “essential” workers continue to work unpaid with the promise of backpay at the conclusion of the shutdown. Government food assistance benefits will also be delayed and national parks will temporarily close.
The last time there was a holiday shutdown was also the last time there was any government shutdown. From December 2018 through January 2019, the government shutdown for 35 days under the first Trump administration.
