House GOP leaders are urgently scrambling for a backup plan after an initial bipartisan deal to prevent a partial government shutdown collapsed under intense conservative opposition.
The legislation sparked outrage among conservatives in both the House and Senate, as well as public rebukes from President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, Trump’s pick to co-chair the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk called for lawmakers supporting the bill to lose their seats, while Trump’s transition team released a statement opposing the measure.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., confirmed the bill’s demise on Wednesday evening, telling reporters, “There’s still a lot of negotiations and conversations going on, but there’s no new agreement.” Scalise admitted he hadn’t spoken directly with Trump throughout the day.
The bill was initially set for a vote on Wednesday afternoon, but plans were derailed as senior Republicans huddled in the speaker’s office to devise a new strategy. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., revealed, “There will be a new CR likely tomorrow. They are negotiating right now. But there will be no votes this evening.” Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., suggested the revised measure might be a “skinny” continuing resolution (CR), stripped of disaster aid and agricultural subsidies.
The now-defunct 1,547-page bill sought to extend fiscal year 2024 government funding through March 14. It included $100 billion in disaster aid for Hurricane Milton and Helene victims, $10 billion in economic relief for farmers, and provisions for health care reforms and revitalization of Washington, D.C.’s RFK Stadium.
Conservative critics, particularly from the House Freedom Caucus, blasted Johnson for including policy riders they deemed unrelated to the bill’s purpose. They felt blindsided by last-minute negotiations, with some warning Johnson could face challenges to his speakership in January.
On “Fox & Friends,” Johnson defended his approach, saying, “When we start the new Congress in January, when Republicans are in control, we’ll scale back the size and scope of government. But right now, we only control one half of one-third of the federal government. This is the conservative play call here.”
The backlash, however, extended beyond Capitol Hill. Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” He also advocated for a government shutdown over passing a flawed bill, saying, “‘Shutting down’ the government (which doesn’t actually shut down critical functions btw) is infinitely better than passing a horrible bill.”
Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance issued a joint statement calling for Republicans to pair the CR with a U.S. debt limit increase, arguing, “Increasing the debt ceiling is not great, but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch. If Democrats won’t cooperate now, what makes anyone think they would during our administration?”
Trump went further on Truth Social, saying any Republican supporting a CR without a debt limit increase “deserved to be primaried.”
Scalise hinted that debt limit discussions were ongoing but stopped short of committing to a specific plan. “We’ve been having some conversations about the debt limit as it relates to the CR,” he said.
Meanwhile, Democrats warned Johnson against reneging on the original bipartisan deal. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., tweeted, “House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government. You break the bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences.”
With the deadline looming, Johnson faces a daunting challenge in uniting his fractured caucus. Given widespread GOP opposition to short-term funding measures, Johnson may need Democratic support to pass any new CR. However, it remains uncertain whether enough Democrats would break ranks to offset Republican resistance.
House leaders must also decide whether to follow regular order, involving votes by the House Rules Committee and the full chamber, or bypass it with a two-thirds vote requirement.
As Friday’s shutdown deadline approaches, the path forward remains fraught with uncertainty, with the stakes higher than ever for Johnson and his leadership team.
Shutting down the government is a scare tactic the Democrats have always used against naive people, this way they get what they want. I think the US citizens should always be allowed to view any bill the Democrats want pushed through. What burns my ass is the last 4yrs have been the most destructive I’ve seen in my 70 yrs and they want a RAISE!!!! If your working at a factory and something you pushed through caused the business to suffer the biggest loss in their history what are your chances if you then ask your boss for a raise..🤣🤣🤣🤣 .just how stupid are those citizens who support the Democratic party…