President-elect Donald Trump will face a “big mess” once his term as president starts in the aftermath of a spending bill passed to avoid a government shutdown.
Under the spending bill, which was passed in the Senate on Saturday, the government will remain open until March 14, 2025, according to NBC News. The bill’s passage in the Senate comes after the House passed the spending bill on Friday night.
NBC noted that in addition to the incoming Trump administration needing to address “another government funding deadline and a debt limit,” Trump’s cabinet picks need to be confirmed “through the Senate,” among other things.
Breitbart News’s Bradley Jaye reported that Friday the House had extended “spending levels and policy priorities negotiated” earlier this year with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and President Joe Biden:
The House once again punted their obligation to fund the government through the remainder of the fiscal year, this time until March 14, 2025, extending spending levels and policy priorities negotiated in February and March 2024 with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and President Joe Biden.
None of the Democrats ended up voting against the spending bill, with 196 voting for it and one voting present. Fourteen Democrat lawmakers were counted absent. On the Republican side, 170 Republicans voted for the bill, with 34 opposing it, and 15 Republican lawmakers being counted absent.
The bill’s passage comes after Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance “stepped in at the last minute” when an initial continuing resolution (CR) filled with “pork” had been supported by Johnson.
Jaye wrote:
President-elect Donald Trump and his team stepped in at the last minute Tuesday as Johnson’s first deal collapsed. Trump demanded the stripping of the Democrat giveaways in the bill and instead to attach provisions to address the debt limit, which must be lifted or waived mid-2025.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said that he felt it was a “mistake” to have punted government funding to March 2025, adding that it was “kind of stupid,” according to NBC News.
“I think it’s kind of stupid,” Johnson said. “Don’t ask me to explain or defend this dysfunction.”
Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) recommended that during Trump’s administration, the Republicans in the House need “to overcommunicate” with Sen. John Thune (R-SD), who will be replacing Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as the Senate Majority Leader.
“The House needs to overcommunicate within our various factions,” Barr explained. “The House needs to overcommunicate with [incoming Senate] Majority Leader [John] Thune, and House and the Senate both need to overcommunicate with the administration.”
While Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) expressed hope, stating that Republicans now “know how to work together,” Sen. Johnson stated that Republicans had “a big mess on” their hands.
“We got a big mess on our hands, no doubt about it,” Sen. Johnson said. “That’s why I’m trying to underpromise and hopefully overdeliver.”
