POS Bastards:
The federal government is careening toward a weekend government shutdown deadline as congressional Republicans, egged on by President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, feud over legislation to keep agencies open over the Christmas holiday.
Republicans on Wednesday rejected a plan by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) for a three-month stopgap funding extension, called a continuing resolution or CR, with more than $100 billion in aid for natural disaster survivors, bipartisan health-care policy changes and other unrelated provisions.
In scrapping Johnson’s plan, Republicans cast doubt on his ability to maintain the speaker’s gavel in next year’s Congress. Johnson must run for the position again when the new House is sworn in on Jan. 3, and enough GOP lawmakers to deny him the position have already declared they won’t support him, according to two members who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
“I am hearing from an increasing number of people, both inside and outside the Freedom Caucus, that they’re not viewing how this was handled favorably,” Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland), chair of the pugnacious and ultraconservative Freedom Caucus, separately told The Washington Post on Tuesday.
Johnson had declared repeatedly over his nearly 14-month speakership that the House would not pursue “Christmas tree” bills, so named for all the legislative ornaments that hang on a year-end funding measure.
But in trying to funnel additional disaster aid to farmers, Johnson cracked the bill open to broader negotiations with Democrats, upsetting Republicans who were licking their chops at reshaping broad swaths of federal policy under unified conservative control in 2025.
Musk, sometimes boosting false claims on X, the social media site he owns, trashed the bill in an hours-long tirade, calling it “terrible,” “criminal,” “outrageous,” “horrible,” “unconscionable,” “crazy” and, ultimately, “an insane crime.”
That catalyzed opposition from Republicans who were wary of the bill. Soon lawmakers piled on, decrying what had become a major funding package on the eve of Musk and his partner Vivek Ramaswamy’s pledge to “chainsaw” federal spending through the “Department of Government Efficiency,” the nongovernmental panel Trump has named them to run.
Hours into Musk’s campaign, Trump ordered Republicans to “GET SMART and TOUGH” or force a shutdown by walking away from a deal that the GOP’s top congressional official negotiated. The president-elect called for a CR that preserves certain items that Johnson supports — such as aid for farmers and disaster relief spending — but strips out Democratic priorities and pairs it with a suspension of the debt limit, which caps the amount the federal government can borrow to pay its bills. The current suspension is set to expire early in Trump’s term next year, under a bipartisan 2023 deal.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...government-shutdown-2024_inline_collection_19
Vice President-elect JD Vance huddled with Johnson and House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) late Wednesday evening to try to break the impasse.
“We had a productive conversation,” Vance told reporters as he left. “But I think we will be able to solve some problems here, and we will keep working on it.”
Democrats responded by declaring there would be no renegotiation.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) secured language in the Johnson bill to fully fund the reconstruction of Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, transfer RFK Stadium from federal control to Washington, D.C., which could pave the way for a new home for the NFL’s Washington Commanders, and lower some prescription drug costs by going after health plan administrators.
Schumer told Democrats, “We have a deal with Republicans and we’re sticking with it,” according to a person familiar with the Senate leader’s message, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions.
“House Republicans have now unilaterally decided to break a bipartisan agreement that they made. House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government and hurt everyday Americans all across this country,” Jeffries told reporters Wednesday night. “House Republicans will now own any harm that is visited upon the American people that results from a government shutdown, or worse; an agreement is an agreement.”
The federal government is careening toward a weekend government shutdown deadline as congressional Republicans, egged on by President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, feud over legislation to keep agencies open over the Christmas holiday.
Republicans on Wednesday rejected a plan by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) for a three-month stopgap funding extension, called a continuing resolution or CR, with more than $100 billion in aid for natural disaster survivors, bipartisan health-care policy changes and other unrelated provisions.
In scrapping Johnson’s plan, Republicans cast doubt on his ability to maintain the speaker’s gavel in next year’s Congress. Johnson must run for the position again when the new House is sworn in on Jan. 3, and enough GOP lawmakers to deny him the position have already declared they won’t support him, according to two members who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
“I am hearing from an increasing number of people, both inside and outside the Freedom Caucus, that they’re not viewing how this was handled favorably,” Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland), chair of the pugnacious and ultraconservative Freedom Caucus, separately told The Washington Post on Tuesday.
Johnson had declared repeatedly over his nearly 14-month speakership that the House would not pursue “Christmas tree” bills, so named for all the legislative ornaments that hang on a year-end funding measure.
But in trying to funnel additional disaster aid to farmers, Johnson cracked the bill open to broader negotiations with Democrats, upsetting Republicans who were licking their chops at reshaping broad swaths of federal policy under unified conservative control in 2025.
Musk, sometimes boosting false claims on X, the social media site he owns, trashed the bill in an hours-long tirade, calling it “terrible,” “criminal,” “outrageous,” “horrible,” “unconscionable,” “crazy” and, ultimately, “an insane crime.”
That catalyzed opposition from Republicans who were wary of the bill. Soon lawmakers piled on, decrying what had become a major funding package on the eve of Musk and his partner Vivek Ramaswamy’s pledge to “chainsaw” federal spending through the “Department of Government Efficiency,” the nongovernmental panel Trump has named them to run.
Hours into Musk’s campaign, Trump ordered Republicans to “GET SMART and TOUGH” or force a shutdown by walking away from a deal that the GOP’s top congressional official negotiated. The president-elect called for a CR that preserves certain items that Johnson supports — such as aid for farmers and disaster relief spending — but strips out Democratic priorities and pairs it with a suspension of the debt limit, which caps the amount the federal government can borrow to pay its bills. The current suspension is set to expire early in Trump’s term next year, under a bipartisan 2023 deal.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...government-shutdown-2024_inline_collection_19
Vice President-elect JD Vance huddled with Johnson and House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) late Wednesday evening to try to break the impasse.
“We had a productive conversation,” Vance told reporters as he left. “But I think we will be able to solve some problems here, and we will keep working on it.”
Democrats responded by declaring there would be no renegotiation.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) secured language in the Johnson bill to fully fund the reconstruction of Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, transfer RFK Stadium from federal control to Washington, D.C., which could pave the way for a new home for the NFL’s Washington Commanders, and lower some prescription drug costs by going after health plan administrators.
Schumer told Democrats, “We have a deal with Republicans and we’re sticking with it,” according to a person familiar with the Senate leader’s message, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions.
“House Republicans have now unilaterally decided to break a bipartisan agreement that they made. House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government and hurt everyday Americans all across this country,” Jeffries told reporters Wednesday night. “House Republicans will now own any harm that is visited upon the American people that results from a government shutdown, or worse; an agreement is an agreement.”
