US lawmakers are set to return to the House of Representatives today in a final bid to avoid a government shutdown
On Thursday night, the House voted against a Donald Trump-backed funding measure which needed a two-thirds majority to pass
Congress had come to a cross-party agreement previously, but Trump and billionaire Elon Musk pressured Republicans to reject the deal and create a new one
Many fear the dispute could lead to a government shutdown before the holidays, leading to closures and limits on services starting on Saturday
Analysis: The drama could be a taste of things to come as Trump prepares to take the White House again in January, writes Anthony Zurcher
Edited by Emily Atkinson and Sean Seddon
Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent
A funny thing happened on the way to a bipartisan agreement to fund US government operations and avoid a partial shutdown this week.
Conservatives in Congress – encouraged by tech multi-billionaire Elon Musk – balked.
Republicans tried to regroup on Thursday afternoon, offering a new, slimmed-down package to fund the government. That vote failed, as 38 Republicans joined most Democrats in voting no.
All this political drama provides just a taste of the chaos and unpredictability that could be in store under unified Republican rule in Washington next year.
The man at the centre of this week's drama holds no official government title or role.
What Elon Musk does have, however, is hundreds of billions of dollars, a social media megaphone and the ear not just of the president of the United States but also rank-and-file conservatives in Congress.
It's not clear what House Republicans will do next, after their spending bill failed yesterday to reach the two-thirds majority required to pass.
Last night House Speaker Mike Johnson said "we will regroup and come up with another solution", while Democratic Whip Katherine Clark said voting could also take place on Friday.
But time is of the essence, and these negotiations usually take weeks.
And Johnson desperately needs to find a way to win over Democrats – almost every Democratic member of the House voted against the bill – especially when pent-up anger from within his own caucus is set to boil over.
Without a deal, starting just after midnight on Friday, US government offices will begin closing down.
US lawmakers will shortly return to the House after they failed to pass a reworked plan to avoid a government shutdown this weekend.
A replacement spending bill – backed by President-elect Donald Trump – fell short of the two-thirds threshold needed for passage.
Trump had thwarted a previous cross-party funding deal that the Republican House leadership had struck with Democrats, after heavy criticism of the measure by tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would come up with another solution before government funding lapses at midnight on Friday.
With less than 24 hours to go, it's not yet clear how that will look.
Stick with us as we bring you the latest updates.
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from New York
President-elect Donald Trump called on his Republican party to back a new spending bill that would avert a government shutdown.
But 38 Republicans in the House of Representatives, along with nearly the entire Democratic Party contingent, voted against it.
It leaves the government in limbo with only one more full day to hash out a new bill. If they don't, a government shutdown would start the weekend before Christmas.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, the chamber's top Republican, has a long night ahead of him – he needs to come up with a Plan C after both Plan A and Plan B failed.
With no resolution in sight tonight, we're pausing our live coverage.
We'll be back again if the House comes to a compromise and tries once more to pass a bill – potentially tomorrow.
In the meantime, you can read the latest analysis from my colleague Anthony Zurcher here:
It's been a chaotic and busy night in Washington DC, here's what happened:
A federal government shut down has the potential to create a major headache ahead of Christmas and new year's vacations for millions of Americans.
If there is no resolution before Saturday, officials have warned of long lines at border crossings and airports. Federally-managed scenic destinations like America's iconic national parks will be closed.
TSA, which provides security to American airports, will furlough some workers, as will the FAA that operates air traffic control.
During the 35-day shut down in 2018-2019, airports were forced to slow operations because of a lack of staff.
On top of that, two million federal workers – including airport workers – would not receive paycheques during the holiday season if a government shutdown went ahead
We've just heard from House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said "we will regroup and we will come up with another solution. So stay tuned".
Vice-president-elect JD Vance has accused Democrats of trying to shut down the government
"They would rather shut down the government, and fight for global censorship," he said, using an expletive.
Elon Musk has also been tweeting about the failed vote. In the last hour, he posted that "responsibility for the shutdown rests squarely on the shoulders" of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Before voting started, President-elect Donald Trump had called on his party to back the proposal. The final vote tally included 38 Republicans who voted against their own party's bill. Two Democrats voted for the bill, with the remainder voting against it.
Democratic Whip Katherine Clark has just advised members that no more votes are expected in the House tonight.
Clark said voting is possible tomorrow, and a schedule would be announced when it was available.
Jake Horton & Mike Wendling
BBC Verify
Elon Musk went on a tear on Wednesday, tweeting dozens of times about the earlier – now scuppered – proposed spending bill.
The Tesla and SpaceX boss is a fierce critic of US government spending, and Donald Trump has put him in charge of a unit designed to cut waste.
But in his flurry of messages about the bill, he got some basic facts wrong.
Musk claimed that the bill meant members of Congress would get a 40% pay rise. The real figure was 3.8%. Members of Congress get a salary of $174,000 per year.
Musk shared a screenshot of one section of the proposal with the claim: “We’re funding bioweapon labs in this bill!”
That was an erroneous reference to funding for biomedical research facilities – not bioweapons facilities, which are banned under an international treaty.
Musk also shot out messages claiming the bill contained billions to fund a new sports stadium and military aid to Ukraine.
Neither spending proposal was in the bill, although it did contain a measure that would transfer a parcel of land to the city of Washington DC, which might theoretically eventually result in a new home for the Washington Commanders NFL team.
The US could face a government shutdown in less than 48 hours, and Elon Musk is pushing for it.
President-elect Donald Trump followed his calls to reject a bill that would have kept the government funded through March.
Without it, some public services could be put of hold.
So what’s it all about and how serious would it be?
Listen here: Why has Elon Musk been pushing for a government shutdown?
Two separate spending bills that would fund the US federal government have fallen apart in less than 24 hours, and the clock is ticking for a deal to happen before the US government shuts down.
Starting just after midnight on Friday, US government offices will begin closing down unless an agreement is struck between Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
That leaves less than two days.
The latest drama of this failed vote came after Elon Musk and Donald Trump denounced a bipartisan bill negotiated and endorsed by Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
Catch up on how we got here by reading this analysis from the BBC's Anthony Zurcher: Musk flexes influence over Congress in shutdown drama
Earlier, before the vote, Connecticut Democrat Rosa DeLauro slammed Elon Musk for lobbying against the bill. She calls him "president Musk", leading to laughter from Democrats on the House floor.
"President Musk said 'don't do it, shut the government down'," she taunts.
"Imagine. What does he know about what people go through when the government shuts down?" asks DeLauro, the top Democratic funding appropriator in the House.
"Are his employees furloughed? Hell no. Is he furloughed? No."
"And when you shut the government down, people don't get paid," she says, suggesting that Musk and Trump would prefer that American workers don't get paid.
Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent
It was the first big test of president-elect Donald Trump’s influence over congressional Republican. He said jump, and a sizable number of them said “no”.
This vote on government-funding legislation, which had been enthusiastically backed by Trump, was destined to fail, as it required a two-thirds majority to pass. But 38 Republicans broke ranks and voted against the bill.
That does not bode well for a later vote, if it happens, which would only require a simple majority. With most Democrats opposing the legislation, the funding bill failed to even reach that mark.
Republican leaders – including Trump – are going to have to engage in some serious arm-twisting now to convince nearly all the defecting members of their party to return to the fold. They may have to come up with new legislation that can win them over, perhaps without a debt-limit extension that is reviled by some conservatives.
However this ends, it underscores just how tenuous the Republican majority in the House is – and the limits to Donald Trump’s power. He and Elon Musk can kill legislation, but they can’t necessarily rally the support to get their proposals over the finish line.
Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson spoke to reporters as voting was still happening moments ago.
He defended the bill that Trump and Musk tanked, saying that it was necessary to prevent American farmers from losing their businesses. He notes the back-and-forth negotiations are difficult.
"It's a long process," he says. "Sometimes it takes a while to reach consensus."
"We are committed to cutting hundreds of billions of dollars of wasteful spending out of the budget," he says, vowing major changes once the Republicans take power next month.
"We will have the America First agenda come in roaring in January for the American people," he pledges.
He did not outline what the next steps would be if the bill failed to pass – as it did just moments ago.
The final vote for the Republican spending bill was 174 to 235 with 1 lawmaker voting present. It failed to pass even a majority vote, but the bill required a two-thirds super majority.
At least 38 House Republicans joined Democrats in tanking the bill.
House Republicans have failed in their efforts to pass a new short-term spending bill. The bill would have averted a US government shutdown that is set to happen early Saturday morning.
The bill needed a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives to pass. It failed to reach that requirement.
Stick with us, we'll bring you more details shortly.
To remind you, this spending bill needs a two-thirds majority to pass the House.
The so-called supermajority will be very difficult to achieve, given that it will require lawmakers from both parties to pass.
This means the bill will require 290 out of 435 votes to pass.
At least two Democrats have voted, so far, to support the bill.
Voting is still going on, but it doesn't appear the spending deal will pass the House as it requires a two-third majority.
The current tally is 167 to 229.
At least 33 Republicans, so far, have voted against it.
It is also possible that some lawmakers could change their vote before the gavel is struck and voting ends.
Watch the latest on the House floor by clicking watch live at the top of this page.
So far, 31 House Republicans have voted against this new spending bill.
The current tally is 145 in support and 214 against it. The bill needs a two-thirds margin of the 435 members in the House to pass the chamber.
Members of the House are still voting on the short-term government funding bill – but its odds of passing are slipping quickly.
The current tally is 91 in support of the bill to 149 opposed.
Democrats have so far voted in unison against the bill. That isn't the case for Republicans. So far, 15 Republicans have voted against the measure.
And a reminder that you can click watch live at the top of this page to follow the voting from inside the House of Representatives.
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