The U.S. House failed to pass a temporary continuing resolution (CR) funding bill on Thursday, bringing the government closer to a shutdown, after President-elect Donald Trump worked to trim over a thousand pages of excess “pork” spending.
“Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal for the American People. The newly agreed to American Relief Act of 2024 will keep the Government open, fund our Great Farmers and others, and provide relief for those severely impacted by the devastating hurricanes,” said President Trump.
The original CR bill, a 1,557-page behemoth, contained pay raises for Congress and support for government censorship programs, along with funding for hurricane disaster relief and support for farmers.
It drew criticism from many prominent figures on the right, including Elon Musk and Trump, for wasting billions funding absurd and left-wing initiatives.
The Trump-endorsed modified bill alienated the vast majority of Democrats by cutting out the liberal spending programs, while pushing some Republicans away by allowing the national debt to keep increasing until 2027.
“Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal for the American People. The newly agreed to American Relief Act of 2024 will keep the Government open, fund our Great Farmers and others, and provide relief for those severely impacted by the devastating hurricanes,” said Trump.
Prominent Republicans, including Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), voted no on the modified bill, opposing the continuing increase to the nation’s skyrocketing debt.
“What we’re doing right now, is to continue to double down on the things that are destroying the Republic,” said Rep. Roy speaking on the Houe floor.
“We are going to increase the debt by $5 trillion,” he added.
Trump criticized Roy for his opposition to the modified bill, suggesting that he is impeding the MAGA agenda and being used by the Democrats.
“Chip Roy, is getting in the way, as usual, of having yet another Great Republican Victory – All for the sake of some cheap publicity for himself. Republican obstructionists have to be done away with. The Democrats are using them, and we can’t let that happen,” said Trump.
Massie also weighed in on social media.
“Now conservatives are clamoring for a clean CR and a debt limit increase! Isn’t that what Speaker McCarthy was vacated for? How times change,” said Massie on X.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), sporting purple hair, was perhaps the most vocal opponent of the modified bill, going viral on social media for her House floor rant opposing the bill.
She claimed that Republicans serve “President Musk” because he was part of a social media campaign to identify and oppose the “pork” spending in the original omnibus bill.
“They got scared because President Musk told them, President Musk said, don’t do it, don’t do it, shut the government down,” said Rep. DeLauro.
She received a round of applause for her comments and tried to appeal to the sympathy of Congress, mourning the plight of federal employees who will temporarily go without their taxpayer-funded salaries while the government is shut down.
Ultimately, the bill failed with 235 no votes and 174 yes votes, opposed by 38 Republicans and all but two Democrats.
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) and Rep. Marie Perez (D-Wash.) both broke with their party and voted for the modified spending package that could avert an impending government shutdown.
Both of Maine’s representatives, Rep. Jared Golden (D) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D), opposed the Trump-endorsed CR, although they disagreed on the unmodified 1,500-page spending omnibus.
Rep. Pingree took to social media on Thursday to lament the failure of the original omnibus funding bill.
“Yesterday, after tough negotiations, Republicans and Democrats came to an agreement on a continuing resolution to fund the government through 3/14,” said Pingree on X.
“We were on the one-yard line. Until Trump and his billionaire buddies derailed the plan. Once again, House Republicans caved. Once again, they put lives and livelihoods at risk—just in time for the holidays. Once again, they failed the American people. Enough is enough,” she continued.
Pingree did not express any concerns over the proposed increase to the national debt.
Rep. Golden also voiced his disapproval of the updated spending omnibus, agreeing with the Republican dissenters on the need to prevent the national debt from growing further.
“The incoming GOP trifecta must address challenges from securing our Southern border to preventing tax hikes on working families. Their effort to suspend the debt limit for 2 years is a brazen attempt to avoid responsibility for ensuring those needs are paid for,” said Golden on X.
Golden previously opposed the unmodified spending bill, claiming that he did not believe American taxpayers should be forced to pay for a substantial raise and increase in health benefits for Congress.
“We should be working to raise Americans’ wages and lower their health care costs, not slipping new taxpayer-funded perks for ourselves into must-pass legislation behind closed doors,” he said.
A government shutdown is set to take effect by the end of Friday, when Congress takes its Christmas recess, and will go into effect unless Congress passes a last-minute funding bill before the end of the day.
“Trump and his billionaire buddies derailed the plan” So said Pingree, who, as I recall was shacked up with one a them there Billionaires, Speculator, Donald Sussman, born in NYC. But now she is just as pure as the driven snow.