WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders on Friday are pressing forward with a new plan to try to avert a government shutdown hours ahead of a deadline that would force U.S. troops, border patrol agents, air traffic controllers and millions of other federal workers to work without pay during the holidays.
Just three days ago, bipartisan House and Senate leaders struck an agreement to keep the government’s lights on, but President-elect Donald Trump and his billionaire confidant Elon Musk killed the deal, insisting at the 11th hour it needed to extend or abolish the debt limit to make way for Trump’s agenda next year.
Follow along for live updates
A backup plan — endorsed by Trump and Musk — then went down in flames on the House floor, tanked by Democrats as well as 38 Republicans who objected to the debt extension.
Embattled Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who is fighting to keep his leadership job, is now moving forward with Plan C: Passing a single package — funding the government through March 14, disaster aid and a farm bill — while stripping out Trump’s debt limit extension, two sources with knowledge of the plan told NBC News.
Republicans detailed their strategy as they left a two-hour, closed-door meeting where they discussed their limited options Friday afternoon. Earlier in the day, leaders floated breaking up the package into three separate parts and having lawmakers vote on them individually on the floor, according to GOP sources familiar with the plan, but the one-package proposal was seen as an easier lift with the clock ticking down.
Exiting the private GOP meeting, Johnson told reporters there would not be a shutdown and that House Republicans are “unified.” He said he would provide more details soon, while his deputy, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said there will “very likely” be a vote on the new plan in the House later Friday.
“We will not have a government shutdown, and we will meet our obligations for our farmers who need aid, for the disaster victims all over the country, and for making sure that military and essential services and everyone who relies upon the federal government for a paycheck is paid over the holidays,” Johnson said.
Johnson will brief Trump on the new plan, after speaking earlier Friday, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said.
So far, the president-elect is choosing to remain silent on House GOP plans, according to another source familiar with his thinking. Trump’s preference is still to address the debt ceiling, that source said, adding, “Johnson should have listened when the President-elect told him this a month ago. And in every conversation since.”
But Trump may be willing to take a “win” on a funding deal that cuts a significant amount of what he saw as “pork,” the source continued, noting that the process gave Trump’s team insight into where votes are in both parties for dealing with the debt limit next year.
There is no guarantee at this point that critical parts of the plan can pass the House or the Senate, or get signed into law by President Joe Biden.
“The lines of communication have been reopened,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters as he left a meeting with House Democrats, without committing support.
On top of that, it could take days for the usually slow-moving Senate to debate and vote on any House funding package, meaning the federal government will very likely shut down into the weekend — if not over the Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s holidays.
But Johnson has a major problem: He cannot pass a bill without Democrats, who still control the Senate and the White House and are determined not to give in to Trump’s 11th-hour demands. If Johnson fails to deliver for Trump, it could jeopardize his prospects of being re-elected as speaker in two weeks, on Jan. 3, with a wafer-thin House majority.
“This is a defining moment for his career as speaker,” said Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., a Johnson critic. “What he does and how he handles this, how he handles our conference … will define who he is, if he is a serious leader, and if he’s going to survive this leadership vote.”
Jeffries said Friday that Trump was rushing to set aside the debt limit so Republicans can pass a tax cut for the wealthy next year.
“A painful government shutdown that will crash the economy and hurt working class Americans, because they would rather enact massive tax cuts for their billionaire donors than fund cancer research for children,” Jeffries said, referring to a provision in the original deal that GOP leaders stripped out.
Senate Democrats have called on Johnson to return to the bipartisan deal that Trump and Musk blew up.
“It’s time to go back to the original agreement we had just a few days ago. It’s time for that. It’s time the House votes on our bipartisan CR [continuing resolution],” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Friday on the floor. “It’s the quickest, simplest and easiest way we can make sure the government stays open while delivering critical emergency aid to the American people.”
In the midst of the battle, Democrats believe they have found a populist economic message to rally voters to their side, depicting Musk as an oligarch who is pulling Trump’s strings.
“I’m ready to stay here through Christmas because we’re not going to let Elon Musk run the government,” Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement. “Put simply, we should not let an unelected billionaire rip away research for pediatric cancer so he can get a tax cut.”
