After meeting with House Republicans Friday afternoon, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told reporters the party is united on a plan C to avoid a government shutdown that would begin at midnight on Friday if no agreement is reached.
Johnson did not go into details, but according to reports from Fox News and CNN, GOP leaders initially pushed a plan on Friday that included holding three separate votes — one on a three-month government spending plan, one on a $100 billion disaster relief package, and a third on a $10 billion farm aid bill. CNN later reported that House Republicans want to hold one vote on the spending package, disaster aid, and an extension of the farm bill. Republicans are reportedly looking to vote on the package under suspension of the rules, which would require a two-thirds majority.
The new plan reportedly does not include a vote on the debt limit. Instead, lawmakers would agree to act on the debt limit next year.
“We have a unified Republican conference. There’s a unanimous agreement in the room that we need to move forward,” Johnson said. “I will not telegraph to you the specific details of that yet because I’ve got a couple of things I’ve gotta wrap up in a few moments upstairs. But I expect that we will be proceeding forward.
“We will not have a government shutdown,” he added. “And we will meet our obligations for our farmers who need aid, for the disaster victims all over the country, and for making sure that military and essential services, and everyone who relies upon the federal government for a paycheck gets paid over the holidays.”
.@SpeakerJohnson: “We have a unified Republican conference. There’s a unanimous agreement in the room that we need to move forward. I will not telegraph to you the specific details of that yet…I expect that we will be proceeding forward. We will not have a government shutdown.” pic.twitter.com/8ftaAZPlBv
— CSPAN (@cspan) December 20, 2024
The first spending plan was a 1,547-page stopgap bill negotiated between the GOP-led House and Democrat-controlled Senate on Tuesday night. But with the help of his ally, Elon Musk, Trump pushed back against that bill, which forced Speaker Johnson to come back with a much shorter revised bill on Thursday.
Nearly 40 Republicans and almost every Democrat in the House opposed Johnson’s revised bill, which failed in a vote on Thursday. Most Republican criticism focused on how the bill would extend the debt ceiling suspension for another two years beyond January of next year when the current suspension is slated to expire. Trump addressed the controversy over the debt ceiling in a late-night Truth Social post, writing, “Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling. Without this, we should never make a deal. Remember, the pressure is on whoever is President.”
CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
Trump also said on Friday morning that funding the government “is a Biden problem to solve,” adding that if a shutdown is unavoidable, it should “begin now.”
“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under ‘TRUMP,’” the president-elect posted on Truth Social. “This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!”
Daniel Chaitin contributed to this report.
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After meeting with House Republicans Friday afternoon, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told reporters the party is united on a plan C to avoid a government shutdown that would begin at midnight on Friday if no agreement is reached.
Johnson did not go into details, but according to reports from Fox News and CNN, GOP leaders initially pushed a plan on Friday that included holding three separate votes — one on a three-month government spending plan, one on a $100 billion disaster relief package, and a third on a $10 billion farm aid bill. CNN later reported that House Republicans want to hold one vote on the spending package, disaster aid, and an extension of the farm bill. Republicans are reportedly looking to vote on the package under suspension of the rules, which would require a two-thirds majority.
The new plan reportedly does not include a vote on the debt limit. Instead, lawmakers would agree to act on the debt limit next year.
“We have a unified Republican conference. There’s a unanimous agreement in the room that we need to move forward,” Johnson said. “I will not telegraph to you the specific details of that yet because I’ve got a couple of things I’ve gotta wrap up in a few moments upstairs. But I expect that we will be proceeding forward.
“We will not have a government shutdown,” he added. “And we will meet our obligations for our farmers who need aid, for the disaster victims all over the country, and for making sure that military and essential services, and everyone who relies upon the federal government for a paycheck gets paid over the holidays.”
.@SpeakerJohnson: “We have a unified Republican conference. There’s a unanimous agreement in the room that we need to move forward. I will not telegraph to you the specific details of that yet…I expect that we will be proceeding forward. We will not have a government shutdown.” pic.twitter.com/8ftaAZPlBv
— CSPAN (@cspan) December 20, 2024
The first spending plan was a 1,547-page stopgap bill negotiated between the GOP-led House and Democrat-controlled Senate on Tuesday night. But with the help of his ally, Elon Musk, Trump pushed back against that bill, which forced Speaker Johnson to come back with a much shorter revised bill on Thursday.
Nearly 40 Republicans and almost every Democrat in the House opposed Johnson’s revised bill, which failed in a vote on Thursday. Most Republican criticism focused on how the bill would extend the debt ceiling suspension for another two years beyond January of next year when the current suspension is slated to expire. Trump addressed the controversy over the debt ceiling in a late-night Truth Social post, writing, “Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling. Without this, we should never make a deal. Remember, the pressure is on whoever is President.”
CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
Trump also said on Friday morning that funding the government “is a Biden problem to solve,” adding that if a shutdown is unavoidable, it should “begin now.”
“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under ‘TRUMP,’” the president-elect posted on Truth Social. “This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!”
Daniel Chaitin contributed to this report.
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