Trump-Backed US Funding Plan’s Failure Showcases GOP Fissures
(Bloomberg) -- The federal government hurtled toward a holiday shutdown Friday, as President-elect Donald Trump scuttled a bipartisan funding deal only to fail to muster support within his own party for an alternative he backed.
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The Republican-led House late Thursday rejected the spending package with 38 GOP lawmakers joining nearly all Democrats in voting against the measure despite threats by Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk to defeat holdouts in their next elections.
The loss provided a striking demonstration of the limits of Trump’s power after weeks of corporate leaders and foreign dignitaries paying homage to the newly elected president at his winter retreat in Mar-a-Lago. And it showcased fissures within the Republican ranks that present formidable obstacles to imposing his will despite the party’s impending unified control of the elected branches of government.
House Speaker Mike Johnson was left without an immediate path forward. “We will regroup and we will come up with another solution. So stay tuned,” he said after the vote.
Trump on Thursday said he would not endorse a deal that didn’t include an extension or elimination of the debt ceiling, which caps how much money the federal government can borrow and has been used as a weapon by both parties to extract concessions in spending fights.
The bill would have funded the government until March 14 and suspended the federal debt limit for two years.
Democratic leaders said they would not accept the late demand for a debt ceiling suspension, casting the effort as a ploy by Trump to clear the way for future legislative priorities including the extension of his signature tax cuts.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries dismissed the plan as “laughable,” adding “extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown.”
As for Johnson, the gambit was viewed more as an effort to preserve his own political future than a sincere bid to avert a shutdown that would furlough hundreds of thousands of federal workers and halt many government services.
The Trump camp tried to put the blame on Democrats “who just voted to shut down the government.”
On Capitol Hill, the chaos was met with exhaustion and pessimism from lawmakers facing the reality that hopes of an agreement before the midnight deadline were rapidly fading. The mood further curdled with recognition that Trump’s election – and vow, alongside Musk, to pursue a radical overhaul of the federal government – had already exacerbated the divisions and leadership failures that have for years plagued congressional Republicans’ efforts to govern.
“My position is simple — I am not going to raise or suspend the debt ceiling (racking up more debt) without significant & real spending cuts attached to it,” Representative Chip Roy, a hardline conservative from Texas, said on X. “I’ve been negotiating to that end. No apologies.”
Earlier in the day, Trump had lashed out at Roy and said on Truth Social that “Republican obstructionists have to be done away with.”
The flap illustrated a core dynamic likely to play out repeatedly over Trump’s second term: an emboldened president — with little institutional loyalty to his party, the knowledge he will never again have to run for election, and an electoral mandate that reinforced his notions of political invincibility – seeing no downside in pushing his advantage.
Trump has proven willing to endure shutdowns before, even if they ultimately resolve without him obtaining his original policy goals. Key allies, including Musk, spent recent days downplaying the impact of a shutdown on ordinary Americans.
For allies and opponents alike, learning how to negotiate with a president unshackled from any traditional considerations – and particularly as they are politically weakened — has rapidly emerged as the challenge of their time. It’s a particularly acute dilemma for Johnson, who is now facing criticism from all directions over his handling of the crisis ahead of an increasingly difficult House vote over whether he can retain the speaker’s gavel.
Before that though, lawmakers have a more immediate concern – sorting out a deal to fund the government.
Federal departments and agencies informed federal workers on Thursday that funding was set to lapse, and Biden administration officials have spent recent days preparing plans for a shutdown.
While Social Security payments, mail delivery and critical government operations would continue, a shutdown threatens the paychecks of critical employees including air traffic controllers and airport security screeners during the holiday season.
Both of Johnson’s failed proposals would have kept the government funded at current levels until March 14 and included more than $100 billion in disaster relief.
But the earlier bipartisan deal was loaded with items opposed by conservatives, such as a transfer of land around the Robert F. Kennedy stadium in Washington to the District of Columbia’s government, along with pay raises and expanded health benefits for lawmakers.
Trump and Musk condemned the package shortly after it was unveiled in a flurry of social media posts and statements. Trump said Republicans needed to do more to fight for their own priorities – including the extension or elimination of the debt ceiling.
Trump also dashed hope for a so-called “clean” stopgap bill that would have dropped so-called add-ons, including the disaster and farm aid, which may have garnered enough support to pass. In a series of posts, Trump emphasized that he still supported the disaster and farm provisions, while threatening Republican lawmakers who did not hold out for a debt ceiling extension with a primary challenge.
For the incoming president, a deal to eliminate the debt ceiling would deprive Democrats of leverage as he pursues an ambitious legislative agenda that is expected to include a series of new tax cuts on top of an already expensive extension of breaks passed during his first year in office.
But it’s a tough pill to swallow for fellow Republicans who have long cast the debt ceiling as an important check on government spending, and who may be thinking beyond Trump’s final four years in office. Trump spent Thursday attacking party lawmakers who balked at his debt ceiling demands.
He looked to assuage concern within the GOP during an interview with ABC News on Thursday, saying that voters would blame Biden for a government shutdown that begun under his watch – and also for any hike to the debt limit.
But with midnight approaching, there appeared little middle ground – or hope for a quick resolution.
“There’s enough blame to go around right now,” Nebraska Republican Don Bacon said late Thursday when asked who would be held responsible for a shutdown. “I’ll just say it that way.”
--With assistance from Steven T. Dennis and Daniel Flatley.
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