Republicans in US Congress reach new spending package to avert government shutdown

Republicans in the US Congress said on Thursday they had reached a new spending package that would avert a looming government shutdown — this time with the support of President-elect Donald Trump, who scuttled a prior bipartisan version.

“There’s an agreement,” Republican Representative Tom Cole, who chairs a committee that oversees spending, told reporters.

Republicans scheduled a 6 pm vote in the House of Representatives, but it was not clear whether they would succeed.

The top House Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries, called the plan “laughable.” Democrats in a closed-door meeting to discuss the bill could be heard cheering and chanting “Hell no!”

Republicans control the chamber by a 219-211 majority, meaning they could lose no more than three votes if Democrats unite against the bill. Democrats also currently control the Senate, and Democratic President Joe Biden’s support would be needed to sign the package into law and avert a shutdown starting on Saturday.

If lawmakers fail to meet that deadline, the US government will begin a partial shutdown that would interrupt funding for everything from border enforcement to law enforcement in the days leading up to Christmas and cut off paychecks for more than 2 million federal workers. The US Transportation Security Administration warned that travelers could face long lines at airports.

Trump urged lawmakers to vote for the package. The incoming president has demanded that lawmakers tie up loose ends before he takes office on Jan. 20.

“Now we can Make America Great Again, very quickly,” Trump said in a statement.

The new package would fund government operations for three months, until Trump is in the White House and Republicans control both chambers of Congress, according to sources familiar with the package. It also would provide $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in farm aid, and extend farm and food aid programs that were due to expire at the end of the year. It does not include other elements that had been included in the original package, such as a pay raise for lawmakers and new rules for pharmacy benefit managers.

The package would also suspend the debt ceiling until January 2027, which could clear the way for trillions of dollars to be added to the $36 trillion federal debt.

Trump’s embrace of the deal marks a softening of his earlier demand that Congress eliminate the debt ceiling entirely before he returns to office.

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 will not have to tackle the issue until the spring.

When he returns to office, Trump aims to enact tax cuts that could reduce revenues by $8 trillion over 10 years, which would drive the debt higher without offsetting spending cuts. He has vowed not to reduce retirement and health benefits for seniors that make up a vast chunk of the budget and are projected to grow dramatically in the years to come.

Jeffries said earlier in the day it was “premature” to discuss acting on the debt ceiling.

“This is a moment that’s not about the incoming president, it’s not about millionaires and billionaires, it’s about the harm the House Republicans will do the American people if the government shuts down,” he said at a news conference.

Several Republicans earlier said they were not interested in getting rid of the debt ceiling if they did not also cut spending. “It’s like limiting, you know, increasing your credit card limit, while you don’t do anything to actually constrain spending,” Representative Chip Roy told reporters.

JOHNSON IN TROUBLE?

The last government shutdown took place in December 2018 and January 2019 during Trump’s first White House term.

The unrest also threatened to topple House Speaker Mike Johnson, a mild-mannered Louisianan who was thrust unexpectedly into the speaker’s office last year after the party’s right flank voted out then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy over a government funding bill. Johnson has repeatedly had to turn to Democrats for help in passing legislation when he has been unable to deliver the votes from his own party.

Several Republicans said they would not vote for him as speaker when Congress returns in January, potentially setting up another tumultuous leadership battle in the weeks before Trump takes office.

“WE MUST STAND FIRM WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO STOP THE MADNESS!! No matter what. Even if we have to elect new leadership,” Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said on social media.

Trump offered his qualified support for the embattled speaker.

“If the speaker acts decisively, and tough, and gets rid of all of the traps being set by the Democrats, which will economically and, in other ways, destroy our country, he will easily remain speaker,” he told Fox News Digital.