The House of Representatives rejected a bill on Thursday, Dec. 19, that would have kept the government open. The vote came ahead of a potential shutdown starting at midnight on Saturday, Dec. 21, when lawmakers head home for the holidays.
The bill fell short of the needed two-thirds majority to speed up its passage, with 38 House Republicans joining 197 Democrats in voting against it. Republicans split with each other on how the bill handles government spending.
“Three hundred and thirty billion dollars. Congratulations. You’ve added to the debt since you were given the majority again on Nov. 5,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who voted against the bill, said while addressing his fellow Republicans.
Roy added, “It’s embarrassing. It’s shameful. Yes, I think this bill is better than it was yesterday on certain respects. But to take this bill, to take this bill yesterday and congratulate yourself because it’s shorter in pages but increases the debt by $5 trillion, is asinine.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said on the House floor, “The deal on the table will keep the government open for the American people and if you guys so choose to shut it down, it will be on you but not the Republican Party.”
She added, “We will not be going back to the table. This deal stands as it is. So let you go back home on Christmas and explain to your people why you shut down the government because we won’t be doing it.”
The latest spending bill, known as a continuing resolution, is a quickly amended bill tailored to the liking of President-elect Donald Trump and his top ally Elon Musk.
Musk posted repeatedly on X condemning the original bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., worked on it with bipartisan support from Republicans and Democrats.
However, when both Musk and Trump opposed the bill, that guaranteed most House Republicans would vote against it and forced Johnson to craft a new bill.
Now, there are two conflicting interests. Musk wants major government spending cuts, and while Trump agrees, he also wants to permanently suspend the debt ceiling.
The new plan lifts the debt limit, leading President-elect Trump to support the bill in a Truth Social post.
“Now we can Make America Great Again, very quickly, which is what the People gave us a mandate to accomplish,” Trump posted.
But Democrats have attacked the bill over what spending Republicans chose to cut.
“The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious, it’s laughable,” said House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. “Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown.”
The bill also removed funding for a bipartisan program for pediatric cancer research, research into diseases such as Down syndrome, and options to treat and detect sickle cell disease, as well as breast and cervical cancer.
It will be on Johnson to craft a bill that would secure votes from the majority of the House.
However, Johnson may not have the political leeway to rely on support from Democrats. He’ll need nearly every returning member of the House Republican caucus to vote for him next month to remain speaker. The new Congress takes office in the new year.
![RIA Novosti [🇷🇺-affiliated] logo](https://groundnews.b-cdn.net/interests/2a0109015009cf4c268971a719f58598126b4051.jpg)
![Sputnik Globe [🇷🇺-affiliated] logo](https://groundnews.b-cdn.net/interests/e68d7b37f05a67679cc6152365afdd6e33dafdc1.jpg)
