Shutdown grows closer: Lawmakers reject Trump's government funding bill

Lawmakers rejected a spending package with 174 votes out of 235, a measure hastily crafted by Republican Party leaders after the previous bipartisan deal was derailed by Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.

The bill was not supported by the entire Democratic Party caucus, as well as 38 Republicans. Only three Republicans voted in favor of the document.

High risk of a shutdown

The budget for funding government operations will expire at midnight on Friday, December 20, local time.

If lawmakers do not approve a new package by this time, the government will initiate a partial shutdown, halting the operations of all government agencies — from border security to national parks — and suspending salary payments for more than 2 million federal employees.

The US Transportation Security Administration has already warned that during the busy holiday season, passengers may face long lines at airports.

The bill closely resembled the previous version, which Musk and Trump had criticized as a wasteful concession to the Democrats. This document could have extended government funding until March 2025, by which time the Republican leader would be in the White House, and Republicans would control both chambers of Congress. The package also allocated $100 billion for disaster relief and would have suspended debt payments.

However, Republicans rejected other elements included in the initial package, such as a pay raise for lawmakers and new rules for pharmacy benefits managers.

At Trump’s insistence, the new version would also have suspended the debt ceiling for two years — a maneuver that would ease the passage of his promised sharp tax cuts and create the conditions for further growth of the federal debt, which already stands at $36 trillion.

Ahead of the vote, both Democrats and Republicans warned that if Congress allowed the government to shut down, each party would blame the other.

Speaker of the House from the Republican Party, Mike Johnson, told reporters that after Trump takes office, this package will prevent a shutdown, tie up loose ends, and make it easier for lawmakers to cut spending by hundreds of billions of dollars.

"Government is too big, it does too many things, and it does few things well," he said.

Tax cuts

Democrats criticized the bill as a cover for a fiscally destructive tax cut that would primarily benefit wealthy donors, such as Elon Musk while saddling the country with trillions of dollars in additional debt.

"How dare you lecture America about fiscal responsibility, ever?" said Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, during the debates.

Some Republicans also argued that the proposal would clear the way for increased debt without reducing spending. "I am absolutely sickened by a party that campaigns on fiscal responsibility and has the temerity to go to the American people and say you think this is fiscally responsible," said Republican Representative Chip Roy, one of 38 Republicans who voted against the bill.

Debt ceiling

However, even if the House of Representatives had approved the bill, it would have faced significant difficulties in the Senate, which is currently controlled by the Democrats. The White House stated that President Joe Biden did not support the document.

Trump urged lawmakers to vote for the package and remove the debt ceiling issue from the agenda before he takes office on January 20.

Reuters noted that previous disputes over the debt ceiling had frightened financial markets, as a US government default would cause credit shocks worldwide. The limit was suspended under an agreement that technically expires on January 1, although lawmakers are unlikely to address the issue until spring.

The agency also reminded that upon returning to office, Trump intends to implement tax cuts. This could reduce revenues by $8 trillion over 10 years, leading to an increase in debt without compensating for the reduction in spending.

He promised not to cut Social Security and Medicare payments for the elderly, which make up a significant portion of the budget and are expected to grow sharply in the coming years.

US government shutdown

A shutdown refers to a situation where part of the US government is forced to cease operations due to a lack of approved funding.

On December 19, it became known that Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Elon Musk launched a campaign against the temporary government funding bill proposed by Speaker Mike Johnson.

It should be noted that in September, Congressional leaders reached an agreement on a temporary spending bill. This bill allowed for the funding of federal agencies' operations for the next three months.

In March of this year, the US Senate approved a $1.2 trillion government funding bill. This document was also intended to prevent a government shutdown.