House Speaker Mike Johnson’s 1,547-page government spending package collapsed Wednesday after conservatives revolted and President-elect Donald Trump urged Republicans to reject the deal.
“Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025,” Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance said in a joint statement.
“The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise confirmed the deal’s demise Wednesday night.
“There’s still a lot of negotiations and conversations going on but there’s no new agreement,” Scalise told reporters while leaving the Capitol.
The package included a huge congressional pay raises, $3 billion for an NFL stadium in Washington, D.C., funding to build bioweapon labs, and a massive stockpile of funds for the pro-government censorship organization NewsGuard.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-M.O., sharply criticized Johnson’s leadership on Fox News.
“Why would you saddle Donald Trump with this terrible spending bill before he even gets into office?” Hawley said. “I tell you what, we need to have a serious look at who is leading this Congress, because if this is the best they can do, I mean, it is total incompetence.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-F.L., indicated leadership would try to get another spending bill passed Thursday.
“There will be a new CR likely tomorrow. They are negotiating right now. But there will be no votes this evening,” Luna told reporters.
The bill’s collapse threatens Johnson’s position as Speaker. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-K.Y., has already declared he won’t support Johnson’s reelection on January 3.
“I’ll vote for somebody else,” Massie said, according to Politico. “I’ve got a few in mind. I’m not going to say yet.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., warned Republicans against reducing government spending.
“House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government. And hurt the working class Americans they claim to support. You break the bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences that follow,” Jeffries wrote on social platform X.
Congress faces a Friday deadline to prevent a partial government shutdown. Rep. Andy Barr, R-K.Y., said he anticipated a “skinny” continuing resolution “with disaster aid or agricultural subsidies” as a backup plan.
The federal government’s budget deficit reached $1.834 trillion in the recently concluded fiscal year, the third largest in U.S. history, while the national debt has climbed to over $36.1 trillion.