President-elect Trump on Wednesday came out against the 3-month spending stopgap introduced by House Speaker Mike Johnson to avoid a government shutdown.
Why it matters: Trump’s opposition could torpedo the bill just two days before the deadline to keep the government running. He further complicated matters for GOP leadership on the Hill with a surprise demand that they raise the debt ceiling.
State of play: The continuing resolution brokered by Johnson would require a 2/3 majority to pass under a suspension of House rules.
House Republicans spent much of Wednesday threatening to vote against the legislation, with Elon Musk leading the charge on X.
Conservative lawmakers argue the 1,500-page bill is too bloated and are pushing for a “clean” short-term spending measure that will allow Trump to try to pass his own appropriations legislation in January.
With Trump now publicly opposed, Johnson will likely move in that direction, a House Republican close to the speaker told Axios’ Andrew Solender.
What he’s saying: Trump and Vice President-elect Vance lodged a series of objections to the bill in a joint statement, including that it would give members of Congress a raise.
They also claimed it would give “sweetheart provisions for government censors and for Liz Cheney,” without specifying what those were.
Trump also tried to shift blame for any potential shutdown onto the Democrats, despite the fact that his intervention could very well cause it. “If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF.”
The other side: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries countered that Republicans had now been “ordered to shut down the government,” adding: “you break the bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences that follow.”
“We have a deal with Republicans and we’re sticking with it,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told senators on Wednesday.
“Triggering a damaging government shutdown would hurt families who are gathering to meet with their loved ones and endanger the basic services Americans from veterans to Social Security recipients rely on,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement Wednesday.
The intrigue: The Trump-Vance statement included a twist: they also want Congress to raise the debt ceiling, an entirely separate process from funding the government.
“Increasing the debt ceiling is not great but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch,” they said.
What’s next: If Congress can’t pass a continuing resolution in time, the government will shut down at midnight on Friday.