Despite the backing of GOP leadership and President-elect Donald Trump, a proposal meant to avert a looming government shutdown failed 174-235 in the House on Thursday afternoon.
The package from Speaker Mike Johnson and the Appropriations Committee was the second attempt at passing a resolution to fund the government into March 2025. The so-called “Plan B” was launched after the disapproval of Trump and billionaire Elon Musk sunk a resolution meant to fund the federal government on Wednesday.
38 Republicans voted against the proposal, along with nearly all of the Democrats in the House. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who earlier in the day called the bill “laughable,” celebrated the package’s failure late on Thursday.
“The Musk-Johnson government shutdown bill has been soundly defeated. MAGA extremists in the House GOP are not serious about helping working-class Americans,” Jeffries said in a post to Bluesky. “They are simply doing the bidding of their wealthy donors and puppeteers.”
In addition to keeping the federal government operations, the bill would have handed the incoming Trump administration and GOP-controlled Congress a two-year suspension of the debt ceiling. Trump warned that he would push to primary any Republican who voted in favor of a funding bill that did not include a raising or suspension of the debt limit.
Republicans voting against the bill signaled their opposition to any long-term debt ceiling adjustments. Texas Rep. Chip Roy told reporters he would “go vote for another debt ceiling increase” without specifics on what spending could be cut from the federal budget.
The failure is yet another blow to Trump’s supposed mandate. He had endorsed the proposal ahead of the vote in a post to Truth Social.
“SUCCESS in Washington! Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal for the American People,” Trump wrote. “All Republicans, and even the Democrats, should do what is best for our Country and vote ‘YES’ for this Bill TONIGHT!”
The maneuver that was used to introduce the funding proposal came with a requirement that two-thirds of the House approved the measure. Its failure will enable Johnson to reintroduce the bill with a simple majority requirement to pass. If the vote on Thursday is any indication, it will not pass that bar, either. Without an approved resolution, the federal government will enter a shutdown on Saturday.
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