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WASHINGTON – A house republican bill funding the government for three months and suspending the debt ceiling for two years failed Thursday night, when dozens of rank-and-file Republicans voted against the deal endorsed by the president-elect donald trump.
Without an agreement to fund the federal government and legislation passed by the House and Senate and signed into law, a partial closure It is scheduled to begin Friday night.
A total of 38 Republicans voted against the bill crafted by their own party leaders. At 38 all Democrats joined, except two who voted in favor and one who voted present.
It was unclear Thursday night what House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., would do next, given substantial opposition to the bill within his own party.
Trump and his ally Elon MuskTesla CEO had already condemned an earlier funding proposal on Wednesday by harshly criticizing its provisions, leaving Republicans to fight for most of Thursday over a replacement plan.
The latest failed version of the continuing resolution would have suspended the US debt ceiling for two years. The ceiling is the maximum the federal government can borrow to pay for its spending.
That suspension was a surprising last-minute addition to the proposal, since raising the debt ceiling typically requires months of negotiations.
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks to members of the media alongside U.S. House Democratic Leader Katherine Clark and Speaker House Democratic Caucus Pete Aguilar (D-CA) after President-elect Donald Trump asked lawmakers to reject a stopgap bill to keep the government funded last Friday, increasing the probability of a partial closure, in the Capitol from Washington, USA, on December 19, 2024.
Leah Millis | Reuters
But Trump said Wednesday that he did not want to take office in January and immediately face a congressional vote on the debt limit. Trump this week called for the permanent abolition of the debt ceiling.
The new proposal also called for a $110 billion extension of farm and disaster aid, which was a key demand of House Democrats.
Although Democrats hold a minority of seats in the House, Republicans have a majority of just a handful of seats, making it difficult to pass major legislation without at least a modicum of bipartisan support.
