House Passes Spending Plan Hours Before Shutdown Deadline
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The House on Dec. 20 passed a spending bill that will keep the government open through March 14, provide disaster relief and give billions of dollars in economic aid to farmers. It does not include a provision to suspend the U.S. national debt limit.
The final vote tally was 366 in favor and 34 against, with one member voting present. The bill now heads to the Senate.
Earlier in the day, Speaker Mike Johnson emerged from a two-hour meeting with fellow House Republicans to tell reporters there is a “unanimous agreement in the room that we need to move forward.”
Johnson wouldn’t discuss the plan at the time and said he still had “a couple things” to work out. The speaker used an expedited process for the measure that required a two-thirds majority, meaning it would need significant Democratic support.
U.S. House: Government Funding Debate & Vote - LIVE on C-SPAN https://t.co/ClsZlqBbJd — CSPAN (@cspan) December 20, 2024
Republican Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska said House Republicans decided not to include a suspension of the national debt limit after a funding package that included the provision failed Dec. 19. President-elect Donald Trump has insisted that the debt limit be waived or raised before he takes office.
The last-minute haggling over details came as Trump adviser Elon Musk continued to threaten a government shutdown if the incoming administration did not get what it wants out of the House Republican majority.
“Either the government should pass sensible bills that actually serve the people or shut it down!” Musk posted on his social media platform X.
Either the government should pass sensible bills that actually serve the people or shut it down! https://t.co/DxHyycW4jo — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2024
Democrats had been locked out of negotiations since Trump sunk a bipartisan deal earlier this week. But House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries told colleagues that he’s been in talks with Johnson.
“The lines of communication have been reopened,” Jeffries said.
The new interim funding package is the third proposal Johnson has put forward to avert a shutdown, set for midnight Dec. 20. Democrats and 38 Republicans late Dec. 19 voted down a different measure backed by President-elect Donald Trump. Conservatives objected to a provision suspending the US national debt limit for two years that Trump demanded at the last minute.
That failure put a spotlight on the limits of Trump’s power over a sharply divided Congress, despite Republicans impending control of both chambers next year. Fissures within the Republican ranks threaten to undermine Trump’s ability to impose his will.
Johnson was forced to withdraw an initial package to fund the government through March that had been negotiated with Democrats after Trump and Elon Musk came out against it on Dec. 18.
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House Democratic leaders made it clear they did not intend to help Republicans raise or waive the national debt limit without concessions, arguing the GOP intends to use the leeway for tax cuts benefiting the wealthy and corporations.
Trump maintained his pressure campaign on Republicans the morning of Dec. 20, insisting that any government shutdown that started before his term would be blamed on Democrats.
“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under “TRUMP.” This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!,” he wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Billy House, Steven T. Dennis and Ari Natter contributed to this report.
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