(DailyEmailNews.com) – President-elect Donald Trump has thrown a wrench into Congress’s plans to avoid a government shutdown by demanding Republicans renegotiate a crucial spending bill.
The bipartisan spending bill to keep the government open until March 14, 2025, now faces an uncertain future.
Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance issued a statement urging Republicans to oppose the bill, insisting on including a debt ceiling increase and calling for a confrontation with Democrats.
“Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF,” Trump and Vance declared.
“It is [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer and [President Joe] Biden who are holding up aid to our farmers and disaster relief,” the duo added.
The president-elect’s intervention has sent shockwaves through Congress, prompting House Majority Leader Steve Scalise to declare House Speaker Mike Johnson’s version of the bill dead.
Trump’s allies, including tech mogul Elon Musk, have joined the chorus of opposition.
Musk went as far as to call for a government shutdown until Trump’s inauguration, rallying conservatives who oppose the bill due to its size and spending levels.
The rejected package included $100.4 billion in disaster aid for states affected by hurricanes and other natural disasters, as well as economic assistance for farmers.
It also controversially included a pay raise for lawmakers and funding for a potential new stadium for the Washington Commanders – clear examples of the wasteful spending that conservatives have long railed against.
“Increasing the debt ceiling is not great but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch. If Democrats won’t cooperate on the debt ceiling now, what makes anyone think they would do it in June during our administration? Let’s have this debate now,” Trump and Vance stated.
“And we should pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn’t give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want,” they added.
As the deadline looms, alternatives being considered include a “clean” continuing resolution with or without disaster funding.
Seeing this as a potential win, the House’s most conservative members are open to a cleaner version of the bill that aligns more closely with their fiscal principles.
Meanwhile, Democrats are crying foul. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries claimed Republicans were being “ordered to shut down the government.”
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