2 PostsSort BySort by NewestSort by OldestBack to Top

incoming update…Pinned Users Manual To What To Expect Today As GOPers Try To Salvage Spending PackageThe revolt by conservatives and the sudden infusion into negotiations of President-elect Trump, Vice President-elect Vance and Elon Musk has House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and others struggling to find a way out of their political cul-de-sac and avoiding a government shutdown at 12:00:01 a.m. ET Saturday. 

Fox is told that Mr. Trumps unexpected demand to tackle the debt ceiling in this package complicated matters exponentially. Many conservatives wont vote for any debt ceiling increase. And Democrats are balking because Republicans reneged on the deal. 

Democrats have bailed out majority Republicans on every major fiscal bill this Congress. They appear to be through helping Republicans. 

Moreover, there may not be enough time to avoid a shutdown. Especially if a new bill is to be produced- and conservatives demand that it lay fallow for three days before voting. 

That does not even address getting it through the Senate. 

So, many Members with whom Fox spoke last night are now resigned to a VERY HIGH chance of a government shutdown – perhaps one which bleeds through Christmas. There simply isnt a combination of votes which unlocks this puzzle yet. 

We also havent even addressed disaster aid. Some conservatives are opposed to that for North Carolina and Florida without offsets. The fate of assistance after Hurricanes Helene and Milton is now in serious limbo. Posted by Chad Pergram ShareThe Hitchhikers Guide to What Happened to the Interim Spending BillThe 1,547-page interim spending bill to avoid a government shutdown is effectively dead.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has all but yanked the plan off the floor after President-elect Trump, Vice President-elect Vance and Elon Musk torched the package to avoid a government shutdown this weekend and fund the government through March 14. 

Had House Republicans had the votes to pass the bill without leaning too heavily on Democrats Republicans may have been able to pass the bill late Wednesday afternoon before the intervention of Mssrs. Trump and Vance. But there was just too much grassroots pressure, sparked by Musk on X and elsewhere.

The stopgap spending package proved unpopular due to its size, and various legislative ornaments festooned on the bill like a Christmas tree. Conservatives were expecting Johnson to handle the spending plan differently this year at the holidays. But it backfired. Badly.

Its notable that Mr. Trump did not weigh in until the 11th hour. He also demanded a debt ceiling increase. Thats something which faced the President-elect in the first quarter of the year and threatened to derail any legislative agenda or potentially spook the markets.

Johnsons decision to veer off course despite touting the bill heartily on Fox Wednesday morning underscores several things.

This is a sign of things to come once President-elect Trump is in office. And that could present problems for Johnson as he may be at the whim of decisions by the new President?

Why did Johnson pull the bill?

It was wildy unpopular with his rank and file. But it devolved further once Musk and the President-elect got infused themselves. 

In many respects, Johnsons decision to pull the bill was all about January 3. Thats the day of the Speakers vote. With 434 members to start the new Congress, Johnson needs 218 votes. Otherwise, he lacks a majority and cannot become Speaker. The House must vote repeatedly – as it did in January, 2023 – before electing former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., five days later in what was the longest Speakers race since the 1850s. 

Johnson tried to salvage himself in the Speakers vote by adding emergency agriculture spending to the bill. But Johnson is now trying to salvage himself by coming up with a new bill. 

The irony is that Johnson did not want to create drama before Christmas with a spending package. But drama is exactly what he got in what quickly became the worst Congressional holiday standoff since the fiscal cliff in 2012 or a government shutdown threat in 2014.

So heres the $64,000 Question: What play does Johnson call next?

Does he do a clean CR to fund the government with nothing attached? Is it a bill that just re-ups current funding coupled with disaster aid? Do they attach a debt ceiling suspension as President-elect Trump has requested?

And then the biggest question of all: can ANYTHING pass at all? Especially without votes from the Democrats?

Johnson has a tranche of conservatives who wont vote for any CR at all. Many of them would also not vote for a debt ceiling increase, either. 

And even if there is a new bill, do conservatives insist on waiting three days to ponder that bill? That triggers a government shutdown right there.

The deadline is 11:59:59 p.m. ET Friday. 

So this is going to require someone to pull a rabbit out of a hat. 

President-elect Trumps maneuver today is reminiscent of a similar move he made in December, 2019 which sparked the longest government shutdown in history. 

Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., then-Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and others thought they had a deal to fund the government and avoid a Christmas-time shutdown. 

The Senate voted for the bill. Senators even sat in the back of the chamber and sang Christmas carols during the vote. 

Mr. Trump then balked at the last minute. House Republicans followed suit. The government shut down for more than a monthPosted by Chad Pergram Share

Live Coverage begins here