By Richard Cowan, Andy Sullivan, Katharine Jackson and Bo Erickson, Reuters
Photo: AFP
A Republican spending bill backed by President-elect Donald Trump failed in the US House of Representatives on Thursday (US time), leaving Congress with no clear plan to avert a fast-approaching government shutdown that could disrupt Christmas travel.
By a vote of 174-235, the House rejected the spending package, which was hastily assembled by Republican leaders after Trump and billionaire Elon Musk scuttled a prior bipartisan deal.
Despite Trump's support, 38 Republicans voted against the package along with all but three Democrats.
Government funding is due to expire at midnight on Friday. If lawmakers fail to extend that deadline, the US government will begin a partial shutdown that would interrupt funding for everything from border enforcement to national parks and cut off paychecks for more than 2 million federal workers.
The US Transportation Security Administration warned that travelers during the busy holiday season could face long lines at airports.
The bill largely resembled the earlier version that Musk and Trump had blasted as a wasteful giveaway to Democrats. It would have extended government funding into March, when Trump will be in the White House and Republicans will control both chambers of Congress, and provided US$100 billion in disaster relief and suspended the debt.
Republicans dropped other elements that had been included in the original package, such as a pay raise for lawmakers and new rules for pharmacy benefit managers.
At Trump's urging, the new version also would have suspended limits on the national debt for two years - a maneuver that would make it easier to pass the dramatic tax cuts he has promised and set the stage for the federal government's US$36 trillion in debt to continue to climb.
Ahead of the vote, Democrats and Republicans warned that the other party would be at fault if Congress allowed the government to shut down.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that the package would avoid disruption, tie up loose ends and make it easier for lawmakers to cut spending by hundreds of billions of dollars when Trump takes office next year.
"Government is too big, it does too many things, and it does few things well," he said.
Teeing up tax cut
Democrats blasted the bill as a cover for a budget-busting tax cut that would largely benefit wealthy backers such as Musk, the world's richest person, while saddling the country with trillions of dollars in additional debt.
"How dare you lecture America about fiscal responsibility, ever?" House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said during floor debate.
Some Republicans likewise objected that it would clear the way for more debt while failing to reduce spending. "I am absolutely sickened by the party that campaigns on fiscal responsibility," Republican Representative Chip Roy said.
Even if the bill had passed the House, it would have faced long odds in the Senate, which is currently controlled by Democrats. The White House said Democratic President Joe Biden did not support it.
Trump had urged lawmakers to vote for the package and take the debt ceiling off the table before he takes office on 20 January.
Speaker Mike Johnson. Photo: AFP / Drew Angerer
Previous fights over the debt ceiling have spooked financial markets, as a US government default would send credit shocks around the world.
The limit has been suspended under an agreement that technically expires on 1 January, though lawmakers likely will not have to tackle the issue before the spring.
When he returns to office, Trump aims to enact tax cuts that could reduce revenues by US$8 trillion over 10 years, which would drive the debt higher without offsetting spending cuts.
He has vowed not to reduce retirement and health benefits for seniors that make up a vast chunk of the budget and are projected to grow dramatically in the years to come.
The last government shutdown took place in December 2018 and January 2019 during Trump's first White House term.
The unrest also threatened to topple Johnson, a mild-mannered Louisianan who was thrust unexpectedly into the speaker's office last year after the party's right flank voted out then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy over a government funding bill.
Johnson has repeatedly had to turn to Democrats for help in passing legislation when he has been unable to deliver the votes from his own party. He tried the same maneuver on Thursday, but this time fell short.
Several Republicans said they would not vote for Johnson as speaker when Congress returns in January, potentially setting up another tumultuous leadership battle in the weeks before Trump takes office.
- Reuters