Republicans push House vote to avert US government shutdown

Republican leaders in the US House of Representatives scheduled a vote on Friday to keep the federal government operating beyond a midnight deadline and avert a partial shutdown that could disrupt the Christmas holiday.

“We will not have a government shutdown,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters.

Congress is struggling to perform one of its most basic duties, providing funding for the government, and it was not immediately clear if the new proposal would draw the support of Democrats, whose cooperation will be needed.

Republicans scheduled a House vote for less than seven hours before current funding was due to expire at midnight. The package would also need to be passed by the Democratic-majority Senate and signed into law by President Biden before then to avoid disruption.

The legislation would extend government funding until March 14 and provide aid for farmers and disaster-hit states. Lawmakers said they would not vote to raise the debt ceiling, as President-elect Donald Trump has demanded.

If Congress does not act by midnight, funding for everything from law enforcement to national parks will be disrupted and millions of federal workers will go unpaid. A travel industry trade group warned that a shutdown could cost airlines, hotels and other companies $1 billion per week and lead to widespread disruptions during the busy Christmas season. Authorities warned that travellers could face long lines at airports.

The latest package resembled a bipartisan plan that was abandoned earlier this week after an online fusillade from Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, who said it contained too many unrelated provisions. That bill would have kept the government agencies operating at current levels, provided an additional $100 billion in disaster aid for storm-hit states and another $10 billion for farmers. It also would extend farm and food aid programs due to expire at the end of the year.

Trump demanded a rewrite to also lift the nation’s debt ceiling, but that was resoundingly rejected by the House — including 38 Republicans — on Thursday.

The federal government spent roughly $6.2 trillion last year and has more than $36 trillion in debt, and Congress will need to act to authorise further borrowing by the middle of next year.

Representative Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, said lawmakers had been in touch with Trump but did not say whether he supported the new plan.

DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT?

House Democrats were due to meet behind closed doors to consider the latest bill. Representative Ami Bera said he thought his Democratic colleagues would support it, absent any surprises.

Republicans control the House by a narrow 219-214 and could need Democratic votes to pass the package as a significant number of Republicans often vote against spending bills.

The Republican plan would drop numerous provisions that had been in the original legislation, such as a pay hike for lawmakers, restrictions on China investment, and new rules for pharmacy benefit managers.

Democrats earlier accused Republicans of giving in to pressure from Musk, who has been tasked by Trump to head a budget-cutting task force but holds no official position in Washington. They said Republicans should honor the original agreement.

Sources said the White House has alerted government agencies to prepare for an imminent shutdown. The federal government last shut down for 35 days during Trump’s first White House term over a dispute about border security.

Trump ratcheted up his rhetoric. “If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under ‘TRUMP,'” he wrote on social media.

Previous fights over the debt ceiling have spooked financial markets, as a US government default would send credit shocks around the world. The limit has been suspended under an agreement that technically expires on Jan. 1, though lawmakers likely would not have had to tackle the issue before the spring.