The US Congress faces a Friday deadline to keep the government open after the House of Representatives rejected the latest funding bill, despite support from Donald Trump. The vote, 174-235, sets up a race for House Republicans to approve a new bill before the deadline. The failed deal would have extended government spending to March 14, provided billions in disaster relief, and suspended federal borrowing limits for two years, a key priority for the president-elect.
The scramble follows the torpedoing of an earlier bipartisan bill after criticism from Trump and his adviser Elon Musk. After the vote, Trump reiterated his demand to eliminate the debt ceiling, which limits government borrowing. "Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling," he wrote on Truth Social. "Without this, we should never make a deal."
The House and Senate must work quickly to pass a bill and get it to President Joe Biden to avoid a government shutdown. "We will regroup and come up with another solution," Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said after the vote. Thursday's bill fell short of the two-thirds majority needed, with 38 Republicans voting against it.
Trump urged both parties to support the bill, calling it a "SUCCESS in Washington!" on Truth Social. Democrats criticized the proposal, with House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries calling it "not serious" and blaming "Extreme Maga Republicans" for driving the government toward a shutdown.
A shutdown would halt some federal programs, send some workers home, and suspend pay for some government employees, including military personnel. Musk had pressured Johnson and Republicans on social media, criticizing the initial bipartisan bill as "terrible" and bloated with unnecessary spending. Trump then opposed the bill, largely because it did not raise the debt ceiling.
The initial three-month stop-gap bill, negotiated between Republican and Democratic leaders, would have maintained current spending levels until March 14 and provided billions for farmers and disaster relief. By then, Republicans will control both Congress and the White House. The bill also included unrelated provisions, such as a pay increase for Congress members, restrictions on technology investment in China, and an easier path for the Washington Commanders football team to move its stadium.
However, the bill did not address the debt limit, expected to expire early in Trump's second term. Trump called the bill a "Democrat trap" and threatened to field primary challengers against Republicans who supported it without raising the debt ceiling. "There won't be anything approved unless the debt ceiling is done with," Trump told ABC News. "If we don't get it, then we're going to have a shutdown, but it'll be a Biden shutdown, because shutdowns only inure to the person who's president."
The legislative crisis has also put Johnson's leadership in doubt, with far-right members like Marjorie Taylor Greene suggesting Musk could replace him as Speaker. The debt ceiling remains a perennial problem, with lawmakers suspending the borrowing cap until January 1 in a deal last year. The Treasury can use "extraordinary measures" to cover new expenditures without breaching the cap, buying time before a potential default, a disastrous outcome for the world's largest economy and financial system.