Trump-backed spending deal fails in House, shutdown approaches
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The House rejected the spending package, which was hastily assembled by Republican leaders after Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk scuttled a prior bipartisan deal.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - A spending Bill backed by Donald Trump failed in the US House of Representatives on Dec 19, as dozens of Republicans defied the President-elect, leaving Congress with no clear plan to avert a fast-approaching government shutdown that could hit Christmas travel.
The vote laid bare fault lines in Trump’s Republican Party that could surface again in 2025 when it controls the White House and both chambers of Congress.
Trump had pressured lawmakers to tie up loose ends before he takes office on Jan 20, but members of the party’s right flank refused to support a package that would increase spending and clear the way for a plan that would add trillions more to the federal government’s US$36 trillion (S$49 trillion) in debt.
“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.
The package failed by a vote of 174-235, just hours after it was hastily assembled by Republican leaders seeking to comply with Trump’s demands.
A prior bipartisan deal was scuttled after Trump and the world’s richest person, Mr Elon Musk, came out against it on Dec 18.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson provided no details when reporters asked him about next steps after the failed vote.
“We will come up with another solution,” he said.
Government funding is due to expire at midnight on Dec 20.
If lawmakers fail to meet that deadline, the US government will begin a partial shutdown that would interrupt funding for everything from border enforcement to law enforcement in the days leading up to Christmas and cut off pay cheques for more than two million federal workers.
The US Transportation Security Administration warned that travellers could face long lines at airports.
The Bill that failed on Dec 19 largely resembled the earlier version that Mr 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 rise 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 manoeuvre that would make it easier to pass the dramatic tax cuts he has promised.
Mr Johnson before the vote 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 in 2025.
“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 Mr Musk, the world’s richest person, while saddling the country with trillions of dollars in additional debt.
Unrest over the new spending package threatened to topple Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has repeatedly had to turn to Democrats for help in passing legislation.
PHOTO: AFP
“How dare you lecture America about fiscal responsibility, ever?” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said during the 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 Jan 20.
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 Jan 1, 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 Mr Johnson, a mild-mannered Louisianan who was thrust unexpectedly into the Speaker’s office
Mr 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 manoeuvre on Dec 19, but this time fell short.
Several Republicans said they would not vote for Mr Johnson as Speaker when Congress returns in January, potentially setting up another tumultuous leadership battle in the weeks before Trump takes office. REUTERS
