House Republicans reach agreement on government spending deal
House Republicans have reached a short-term government funding agreement that will prevent a shutdown from happening after Friday, Reuters reports.
According to Punchbowl News, the deal would fund the government for the next three months, and suspend the debt limit until 2027, as Donald Trump had demanded.
It also includes $110bn in aid for disasters, including the hurricanes that recently struck North Carolina and elsewhere in the south-east.
Key events
Trump threatens Republican congressman over debt ceiling increase
Republican congressman Chip Roy is a conservative stalwart, but his opposition to increasing the debt ceiling without major cuts to government spending has earned him the ire of Donald Trump.
The president-elect is demanding the debt limit be increased or eliminated in any bill to keep the government open beyond Friday at midnight, when its current spending authorizations run out. On X, Roy announced he would only accept increasing the limit under strict conditions:
My position is simple – I am not going to raise or suspend the debt ceiling (racking up more debt) without significant & real spending cuts attached to it. I’ve been negotiating to that end. No apologies.
Apparently aware of his opposition, Trump a few minutes earlier published on Truth Social a takedown of Roy, which begins:
The very unpopular “Congressman” from Texas, Chip Roy, is getting in the way, as usual, of having yet another Great Republican Victory – All for the sake of some cheap publicity for himself. Republican obstructionists have to be done away with. The Democrats are using them, and we can’t let that happen. Our Country is far better off closing up for a period of time than it is agreeing to the things that the Democrats want to force upon us.
He then called for Roy to face a challenge in his next Republican primary:
Chip Roy is just another ambitious guy, with no talent. By the way, how’s Bob Good doing? I hope some talented challengers are getting ready in the Great State of Texas to go after Chip in the Primary. He won’t have a chance!
One thing to remember: Roy supported Florida governor Ron DeSantis, not Trump, in this year’s Republican presidential primary.
Should a government shutdown happen, Democrats are gearing up to steer the blame to the GOP.
The California Democratic congresswoman Judy Chu said in a statement:
With the ink barely dry on a bipartisan deal between Speaker Johnson and Congressional Democrats to fund the federal government and provide relief to natural disaster victims all over America, self-designated President Elon Musk – an unelected billionaire and world’s richest man – ordered a government shutdown that will hurt working people all across this country. Donald Trump, Speaker Johnson, and House Republicans heard their marching orders and reneged on a deal that would avert a government shutdown and help disaster victims from California to North Carolina, Florida to Vermont.
Chu noted that the spending package rejected by Donald Trump yesterday at Elon Musk’s urging included money for relief from the Bridge fire, which ravaged part of her Los Angeles county district.
“House Republicans still have a choice: they can work on a bipartisan basis with Democrats to support families and disaster survivors or they can side with billionaires and shut down the government, leaving working Americans out in the cold during the holidays,” Chu said.
Harris calls off trip to California as government funding teeters
Kamala Harris has canceled her plans to travel to California this evening, as Congress negotiates a funding bill to avert a government shutdown that is less than 36 hours away.
Harris was scheduled to depart Washington DC for Los Angeles after 9pm, but the White House says she will now remain in the capital. They did not specify a reason, but the vice-president has been tasked with breaking ties in the Senate, should it come to that.
Republican senators express frustration over Trump meddling in spending talks – report
As they left a lunch with JD Vance, Republican senators voiced to CNN their concerns with Donald Trump’s demands that they throw out a compromise bill to fund the government and instead agree to a new one that includes increasing or eliminating the debt ceiling.
Here’s what Rand Paul of Kentucky had to say:
‘They’re trying,’ he said of Trump’s effort to raise or get rid of debt ceiling. ‘But I don’t think they’ll get there … Getting rid of the debt ceiling seems to be fiscally irresponsible.’
Paul added: ‘It’s a little bit late in the game to be putting debt ceiling on this anyway.
And Chuck Grassley of Iowa:
Chuck Grassley, leaving a GOP lunch, told us there was no plan yet presented to them to avoid a shutdown.
‘When you have a $35 trillion national debt, it’s stupid to shut the government down,’ he said.
The vibes on Capitol Hill around keeping the government open remain bad.
Republican senator Susan Collin’s thoughts on the matter, via Politico:
Are you feeling better about the CR? ‘I’m not, because there’s no plan,’ Sen. Collins says
And here’s what Mitt Romney thinks of what may be one of the last votes of his Senate career:
What does President Trump want Republicans to do: vote for the CR or shut down government? Absent direction, confusion reigns.
Anna Betts
Bernie Sanders has criticized “President Elon Musk” over the billionaire’s efforts to derail a bipartisan spending deal that would keep the government running for another three months.
“Democrats and Republicans spent months negotiating a bipartisan agreement to fund our government,” said Sanders, the independent senator for Vermont who votes with Democrats, in a statement.
“The richest man on Earth, President Elon Musk, doesn’t like it. Will Republicans kiss the ring?”
Trump indictment ‘still stands’ despite Fani Willis disqualification from prosecuting election case, expert says
Norm Eisen, Brookings Institute senior fellow, says there is still hope for Donald Trump to be brought to justice despite the disqualification of prosecutor Fani Willis from her case against him and others for trying to overthrow Georgia’s 2020 election results.
Eisen said: “The disqualification of Fani Willis is entirely unfounded, but there is a silver lining: the indictment against Trump still stands. It should be pursued vigorously. As we’ve seen in the New York case, Trump is not immune, and prosecutors must continue to hold him accountable.”
Eisen has admitted in the past Willis’s decision to hire her romantic partner Nathan Wade as a special prosecutor for the case “represents poor judgment” but distracts from the real issue of election conspiracy.
Senator Warren voices support for Trump call to eliminate debt ceiling
More lawmakers react to Trump’s calls for abolishing the debt ceiling, which has sent legislators into chaos as a government shutdown nears.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren in a rare show of support for Trump, said on X: “I agree with President-elect Trump that Congress should terminate the debt limit and never again govern by hostage taking.”
Senator John Thune of South Dakota, who is the incoming majority leader, just reacted to Donald Trump’s calls to eliminate the debt ceiling:
“I think that at some point we’re going to have to deal with that. It’s coming. How we deal with it, I’m open to suggestions.”
He told reporters shortly after Trump’s announcement: “I do know there are different theories about how to deal with the debt limit going forward. If it was effective, we wouldn’t have a $35tn debt. So the debt limit for all intents and purposes has limited meaning in the modern world but it is something that markets obviously pay attention to.
“In terms of how we’re going to address it, I’m not sure exactly what that looks like at the moment.”
