House votes down Republican bill to avert shutdown
Dec 19, 2024
The House rejected a bill Thursday to keep the government funded temporarily, after Republican leaders reneged on an earlier bipartisan deal and made modifications to appease President-elect Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk and an internal GOP revolt.
The vote was 174-235, with one Democrat voting present, falling far short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass it under a fast-track process.
The vote leaves Congress without a clear plan to avoid a looming government shutdown with less than 30 hours left before the deadline, driving up the odds of a funding lapse just ahead of the holidays.
The new bill put together by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Republican leaders had Trump’s endorsement but faced speedy opposition from Democratic leaders, who had not signed off prior to its release. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called the proposal “laughable” as Democrats met privately before the vote.
Inside a closed-door meeting of House Democrats before the vote, lawmakers could be heard chanting, “Hell no! Hell no!”
Jeffries said on the House floor before the vote that his party would oppose the bill. “We are going to continue to fight for everyday Americans. That is why we are voting no on this bill — and to stop this reckless regressive and reactionary Republican shutdown,” he said.
The 116-page bill released Thursday would fund the government through March 14, averting a shutdown that is slated to begin at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. It would also extend the nation’s debt limit through Jan. 30, 2027, in response to a key, 11th-hour request from Trump.
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The slimmed-down package includes millions of dollars in disaster relief money for recovery from hurricanes Helene and Milton for construction projects and environmental cleanup, among a slew of other designations.
The bill includes an extension of the farm bill as well as funding for the farming sector, including millions for conservation efforts, a watershed protection program and rural development disaster assistance.
Absent are provisions that had infuriated Trump and his right-wing allies, including cost of living increases for lawmakers and giving Washington, D.C., control over a stadium site that could be used for the Washington Commanders NFL team. The legislation also excludes health care provisions to overhaul laws around pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, that were agreed to in the prior deal.
In a post on TruthSocial, Trump praised the deal, calling it a “success” and urged both Republicans and Democrats to vote yes.
“Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal for the American People. The newly agreed to American Relief Act of 2024 will keep the Government open, fund our Great Farmers and others, and provide relief for those severely impacted by the devastating hurricanes,” Trump wrote.
An earlier deal fell apart, and Johnson and House Republican leaders had struggled for hours to devise a fallback plan to keep the government open. Musk rallied conservatives to sink the original bipartisan funding deal.
The new agreement comes less than 36 hours before a deadline to fund the government or lead to vast swaths of the federal government shuttering and the furloughing of workers.
Democratic leaders have excoriated Johnson and his team for reneging on the previous bipartisan deal that he had signed off on. Some noted that it diminishes House Republican leadership’s credibility in any future negotiations.
On Wednesday evening, Trump threw an unexpected wrench into funding negotiations when he slammed the bipartisan funding deal Johnson had negotiated. And, in a last-minute demand, he threatened to go after Republicans unless they added a provision to extend the debt limit, months ahead of a deadline to prevent an economically catastrophic default next year — a substantial ask with less than two days to go before a shutdown deadline.
On Thursday morning, Trump went even further, telling NBC News that Congress needs to abolish the debt ceiling entirely. In a phone interview, Trump noted that some Democrats have wanted to nix the debt ceiling for years and that he would “lead the charge” in that effort.
Jeffries had previously said that any debate over extending or eliminating the debt ceiling at this point is “premature at best.”
Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the former Appropriations Committee chair who is now the panel’s top Democrat, was among those who slammed Johnson and Republicans for reneging on the bipartisan funding deal that had been locked in just days earlier.
She said there was a “good agreement” in place that was moving ahead, “but for President Musk.”
Asked if the tech billionaire was calling the shots for Republicans, DeLauro replied: “It’d appear to me!”
(Trump told NBC News Thursday that Musk had only put out a series of statements seeking to kill the bipartisan compromise after discussing it with the president-elect, saying the two are aligned on the issue.)
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who just won re-election in a swing district, said on MSNBC that it is “very clear, Donald Trump is in charge” and that Republicans need Democratic support for a bill.
“The reality here is very simple. We have to negotiate,” Lawler told MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell before Thursday’s agreement was announced. “I will remind everybody we are in a divided government. Still, Democrats control the Senate and the White House, so there’s going to have to be a bipartisan negotiation.”