House Republicans struck the third deal this week on a short-term government funding bill, which will need Democratic support to pass Congress, and are teeing up a floor vote just hours before federal agencies’ lights are set to go dark at midnight.
At least 38 House GOPers shot down a similar bill Thursday night, but Speaker Mike Johnson emerged from marathon deliberations on Friday afternoon to announce he had “a unified Republican conference.”
“We will not have a government shutdown,” Johnson (R-La.) promised, “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 is paid over the holidays.”
The bill’s text has not been released, but it is expected to fund the government at current levels until March 14, 2025, provide $110 billion in disaster relief, especially for hurricane-hit states, and extend ongoing subsidies to farmers for one year, Capitol Hill sources told The Post.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who helped tank Thursday’s stopgap spending bill, reopened a line of communication with Johnson to negotiate the bill, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) confirmed after exiting his caucus’ closed-door meeting on the package.
The bill will be considered under a suspension of the rules and require a two-thirds supermajority to pass.
All but two Democrats in the lower chamber voted down the earlier version of the bill on Thursday, which would have funded the government until March 2025 and included a provision to suspend the US debt ceiling until January 2027.
President-elect Donald Trump had called for the abolition of the debt limit the same day, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk helped pressure GOP lawmakers to kill a costlier funding measure on Wednesday that hadn’t included the provision.
“The Democrats have said they want to get rid of it. If they want to get rid of it, I would lead the charge. It doesn’t mean anything, except psychologically,” Trump, 78, told NBC News
“Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling. Without this, we should never make a deal,” he threatened Friday morning on his Truth Social. “Remember, the pressure is on whoever is President.”
But in a side deal, the House GOP majority has agreed to raise the debt limit in the next Congress by $1.5 trillion via budget reconciliation, sources said.
The conference also vowed to cut another $2.5 trillion in federal spending as part of that process, which will be able to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold.
On Thursday, Trump had turned his fire on Republicans like Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) who opposed racking up the nation’s debt — and called for them to be primaried in 2026.
The incoming commander-in-chief also said President Biden would be the one to blame if a partial government shutdown occurred.
“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under ‘TRUMP,’” Trump claimed on Truth Social. “This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!”
The White House maintained Friday that Republicans were responsible for killing the first of the three spending bills — with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying they still had the chance to avoid government shutdown.
“Republicans in Congress don’t have to go this route,” she said. “We believe, this president believes, that we move policies on behalf of the American people — we do it in a bipartisan way, and we had that deal.”
Jean-Pierre also warned that while Biden, 82, has made a “commitment” to a smooth transition with Trump, during a shut down “transition activities will be restricted.”
She added that federal agencies have already sent out alerts to staff informing them of a possible government shutdown that would begin at 12:01 a.m. Saturday if Congress doesn’t pass new spending.
If that happens, only essential departments like law enforcement and necessary benefit programs like Social Security will be funded. All furloughed federal employees will still receive backpay, however, once agencies reopen.
