Trump issues new spending bill demands with government shutdown looming

Some House Republicans are privately fuming after Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy got involved in congressional talks on government funding, leading the charge to tank a bipartisan deal.

Several GOP lawmakers granted anonymity to speak freely about a sensitive situation were either frustrated about the pair getting involved or believe they exacerbated long-standing weaknesses within the House Republican Conference.

"Musk and Vivek should not have jumped in at the 11th hour and should have handled it directly with the speaker. Folks on the same side shouldn’t act like these two," one House Republican said. "They’re more about the clicks and bright lights than getting the job done. I’ll have nothing to do with them after watching them publicly trash the speaker."

A second GOP lawmaker said, "If Elon and Vivek are freelancing and shooting off the hip without coordination with [President-elect Trump], they are getting dangerously close to undermining the actual 47th President of the United States."

A third lawmaker accused Ramaswamy of distorting facts.

"He didn't read the entire [continuing resolution] and the vast majority of what he was talking about is misinformation," they said.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was gearing up to hold a vote on a bipartisan, 1,547-page deal to extend current government funding levels through March 14 – known as a continuing resolution (CR).

The goal was to give congressional negotiators more time to cobble together an agreement on how to fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2025, while also kicking the fight into a term where Republicans control the House, Senate and White House.

Congressional leadership unveiled legislation Wednesday to punt the government funding deadline down the road, but that bill was pronounced dead only hours after it was revealed. 

It led to the intervention of Trump-allied conservatives like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, with Musk threatening to support a primary challenge to any Republican member of Congress who voted for the bill. 

It even prompted President-elect Trump  to say he is "totally against" the legislation and insist any spending deal raise the debt ceiling before he gets into office, saving his administration the headache of doing so. 

The continuing resolution, or CR, was meant to kick the government funding deadline down the road by continuing spending at 2024 levels until March and buy more time for Congress to hash out a longer-term budget plan for fiscal year 2025.

But it included 1,500 pages worth of policy and funding riders. With a national debt of $36 trillion and a deficit of $1.8 trillion deficit, conservatives are leery of CRs that don't cut government spending to begin with. But they've argued only a "clean" CR without any riders attached could earn their vote. But others – Democrats and some Republicans – wanted policy and funding riders attached to get something done beyond the status quo. 

Follow the link to check out at all the provisions that prompted Musk and Ramaswamy to step in and insist Republicans kill the CR.

Fox is told House Republicans are inching close to “something” on a CR. But details are unclear. It’s something House Speaker Mike Johnson , R-La., and others have been processing with Vice President-elect JD Vance.

No one would call this an “agreement.” And they have no idea how quickly they can socialize it with the conference. 

It’s unclear if this could just be a patch to avoid a government shutdown – or if it could be something more substantive with the debt ceiling, and/or disaster aid. 

Fox spoke to one moderate Republican who was upset that “outside forces” like Elon Musk torched the package and were “meddling in Congressional affairs.” 

That is not exactly an endorsement of DOGE. But there is significant enmity now among some House Republicans for Musk. 

House Democrats fumed Thursday over the spending bill drama and what they characterized as the outsize influence of Elon Musk and others in Trump’s orbit, after a bipartisan plan brokered by House Speaker Mike Johnson collapsed just hours earlier.

Speaking to reporters outside a leadership meeting Thursday, House Democrats expressed disappointment in Republicans for walking away from the negotiated argument, and many accused them of appearing to take clues from Elon Musk. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., labeled the billionaire X owner "President Musk" while speaking to reporters Thursday.

"For the Republicans, for President Musk to come in at the last moment and blow up the deal is just intolerable," Nadler said. "You have to negotiate, and you have to be able to enforce what you're negotiating, and what was negotiated was a very good deal for the American people."

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said their caucus is "disappointed" in Speaker Johnson, saying it appeared as though Musk is "president" and Trump "vice president."

This was echoed by Rep. Greg Casar, D-Tex., who said: "My main question is just if Elon Musk is kind of cosplaying co-president here, I don't know why Trump doesn't just hand him the Oval Office."

"Speaker Johnson should maybe just hand Elon Musk the gavel if they just want that billionaire to run the country," Casar told reporters outside a  House Democrat leadership meeting.

House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., was emotional as she expressed her frustration with the protracted negotiation and a changed debt ceiling agreement, saying that in her view, Republicans "need to do the right thing for once." 

She noted that she has "thousands of neighbors" and others in her district who are waiting for disaster aid or for a Small Business Administration loan. ""Those are the loans that help people repair their homes. Those are the loans that help small businesses get back on their feet."

She noted that Republicans did not replenish those funds when they did the last spending bill, so in the meantime, these people "have been left out in the lurch."

"I just wanted to point out that this kind of chaos and dysfunction has real world impacts on hardworking people, and it's irresponsible and wrong," she said.

Musk's team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for a response to the comments on his role in the spending bill negotiations. 

Fox News Digital's Breanne Deppisch, Aubrie Spady and Morgan Phillips also contributed to this report. 

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told reporters that GOP leaders were looking at a variety of options to deal with the looming partial government shutdown deadline.

When asked if Republicans were still eyeing a March 14 date for a short-term government funding extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), Cole said, “I have no reason to believe the timeline has changed.”

“I think lots of options are on the table, but…we need to sort of get through this and have a little breathing space to get organized,” Cole said. “I don't think it's fair to [President-elect Trump], frankly, to confront him — and I've said that consistently — with a shut down crisis immediately.”

House GOP leaders have said little while going in and out of Speaker Mike Johnson’s office on Thursday morning as they scramble to avert a partial shutdown at the end of Friday.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., repeatedly told reporters the situation was “fluid” when asked a variety of questions on progress. Johnson, R-La., ignored reporters’ questions altogether when he entered the Capitol Thursday morning.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., did not rule out the chance of a partial shutdown when he spoke to reporters about the government funding quagmire as he entered the Capitol Thursday morning.

"But, you know, we got to start here, get our work done in the House, and that's what we're focused on," Scalise told reporters.

One reporter asked, "Will there be a shutdown?"

"Well, we're focused on making sure that doesn't happen. But, you know, we're not the only ones that control that. We're gonna try to get it done today," Scalise responded.

Scalise sidestepped a question on if Republicans can pass a CR without help from Democrats, as House Democrats signal they're not interested in bailing out the GOP this time. 

Asked about any updates on a new deal, Scalise said lawmakers saw "some real progress last night" but were still "working through some things."

On specifically if he's spoken to President-elect Trump, he said, "We've been talking to a number of people. Of course people in the incoming Trump administration and Democratic counterparts, our colleagues in the House. So there's a lot of moving parts. But, you know, the ultimate goal is to get a bill that addresses our immediate needs, but also sets President Trump up for success when he comes into office. And there's a lot that we're going to be doing in January, working with President Trump, and a lot of that work's already started."

"You know, when you think about budget reconciliation, you get the economy back on track, to secure the border," Scalise added. "So, you know, we're talking about all those things too. But we're working on, you know, some different approaches to where we were yesterday, trying to get this bill done."

Fox News' Tyler Olson asked, "Is it possible to pass something without the Democrat votes? Because it seems like Democrats are going to be against any changes to the CR."

"Well, you know, it's too early to talk about, you know, who's going to be part of what coalition," Scalise said. "I mean, we are looking at where the policy is going to go that gets us to get this bill passed in a way that the incoming Trump administration is able to be set up for success."

"And have you gotten any signals from Senate Democrats? You know, House Republicans are able to pass something that," Olson pressed. To that, Scalise said, "I think if you see a deal that comes together in the House that passes, it's likely going to pass the Senate too."

President-elect Trump endorsed getting rid of the debt ceiling in an interview with NBC News.

In a phone interview, Trump reportedly said abolishing the debt ceiling would be the “smartest thing it [Congress] could do. I would support that entirely."

“The Democrats have said they want to get rid of it. If they want to get rid of it, I would lead the charge,” Trump added, saying that hitting the cap lawmakers set for how much the federal government can borrow could either be "a catastrophe, or meaningless."

Finding out what would happen if the debt ceiling is reached would be pointless, he argued.

“It doesn’t mean anything, except psychologically," Trump told NBC. "If there’s going to be a shutdown, we’re going to start it with a Democratic president."

On whether he has confidence in House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., amid negotiations over the spending bill that must be decided by 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday to stave off a partial shutdown, Trump reportedly said, "We’ll see. [The deal] they had yesterday was unacceptable."

“In many ways it was unacceptable. It's a Democrat trap," Trump said.

Trump told Republicans on Wednesday they should raise the national debt limit. The president-elect said he discussed his opposition to the short-term spending bill with Elon Musk before the tech billionaire posted on X slamming the bipartisan proposal.

“I told him that if he agrees with me, that he could put out a statement,” Trump told NBC. “He’s looking at things from a cost standpoint.” He said their stances are “very much on track.”

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., floated the idea of Elon Musk replacing Mike Johnson, R-La., as House Speaker next year as a potential partial government shutdown looms.

"The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress..." Paul wrote on X, which Musk owns. "Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk... think about it... nothing’s impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds)."

Democratic political strategist Jimmy Williams balked at the idea.

"As I’m wont to say repeatedly: Senators should stick to Senating and House Members should stick to their Chamber," Williams wrote. "No House Member gives a damn what a Senator thinks about who should be Speaker."

Musk, alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, already have been tasked with leading the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) come the new Trump administration.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Fox & Friends that President-elect Trump needs to consider coming to Washington, D.C., amid negotiations over the spending bill.

"Let's face it, he's the president now," Kennedy said of Trump, who doesn't take office until Jan. 20. "It's not President Biden."

Kennedy said Trump should sit down with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., "and come up with a new skinny CR."

"If the president wants to do something on the debt limit, we need to find out what it is and put it in the bill," Kennedy said. "And then the president's gonna have to help Mike sell it in the House."

He predicted that House Democrats wouldn't support the bill, and Johnson's problem is that on the Republican side, "he's got a bunch of free range chickens."

"I'm not criticizing them, but they wander off, and Mike can't catch all of them by himself," Kennedy said. "He's going to need the president's help."

EXCLUSIVE: President-elect Donald Trump told Fox News Digital that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will "easily remain speaker" for the next Congress if he "acts decisively and tough" and eliminates "all of the traps being set by Democrats" in the spending package. 

Fox News Digital spoke exclusively with the president-elect Thursday morning, just hours after the bipartisan deal to avoid a partial government shutdown was killed. 

"Anybody that supports a bill that doesn’t take care of the Democrat quicksand known as the debt ceiling should be primaried and disposed of as quickly as possible," Trump told Fox News Digital. 

Vice President-elect JD Vance met with Johnson Wednesday night. The two spoke about the potential continuing resolution for about an hour. Vance said the two had a "productive conversation," and said he believes they will "be able to solve some problems here" and will continue "working on it." 

The chaos surrounding the effort to pass legislation to avert a government shutdown is putting the upcoming speaker vote in focus, as Johnson has struggled to keep the party fully united. 

But the president-elect told Fox News Digital that Johnson will "easily" keep his role as speaker. 

"If the speaker acts decisively, and tough, and gets rid of all of the traps being set by the Democrats, which will economically and, in other ways, destroy our country, he will easily remain speaker," Trump told Fox News Digital. 

The speaker vote is set for Jan. 3, 2025. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson , R-La., arrived at the U.S. Capitol just before 8 a.m. ET Thursday morning. He did not answer questions from reporters as he walked in.

Fox News Digital exclusively reported on Wednesday that House GOP critics of how Johnson is handling funding talks are already beginning to float names of possible challengers.

Two GOP lawmakers told Fox News Digital that House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn.; House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; and Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., were all mentioned in early talks about alternatives.

One of the two lawmakers said they had not heard from any of the three, adding, "That would be suicidal."

A person close to Donalds told Fox News Digital in response, "At this time, the Congressman has not made any statements regarding the future of House leadership."

A spokesperson for Emmer told Fox News Digital, "Whip Emmer supports Speaker Johnson and is focused on doing the job he was elected to do."

Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

The Treasury Department assesses that the United States is more than $36.1 trillion in debt. As for the national deficit, which happens when federal government spending exceeds its revenues, the United States has been sitting at more than $624.2 billion since October.

A government shutdown looms, as President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance are essentially telling House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to renegotiate a massive stop-gap funding measure that the incoming administration decried as an affront to government efficiency. Trump and Vance want a slimmed down spending bill that supports farmers and natural disaster victims, as well as controversially increases the national debt limit – a move they say is better done under President Biden’s watch rather having the debate in mid-2025 when the Treasury will likely again run out of borrowing authority.

The revolt by conservatives and the sudden infusion into negotiations of President-elect Trump, Vice President-elect Vance and Elon Musk has House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and others struggling to find a way out of their political cul-de-sac and avoiding a government shutdown at 12:00:01 a.m. ET Saturday. 

Fox is told that Mr. Trump’s unexpected demand to tackle the debt ceiling in this package complicated matters exponentially. Many conservatives won’t vote for any debt ceiling increase. And Democrats are balking because Republicans reneged on the deal. 

Democrats have bailed out majority Republicans on every major fiscal bill this Congress. They appear to be through helping Republicans. 

Moreover, there may not be enough time to avoid a shutdown. Especially if a new bill is to be produced- and conservatives demand that it lay fallow for three days before voting. 

That does not even address getting it through the Senate. 

So, many Members with whom Fox spoke last night are now resigned to a VERY HIGH chance of a government shutdown - perhaps one which bleeds through Christmas. There simply isn’t a combination of votes which unlocks this puzzle yet. 

We also haven’t even addressed disaster aid. Some conservatives are opposed to that for North Carolina and Florida without offsets. The fate of assistance after Hurricanes Helene and Milton is now in serious limbo. 

The 1,547-page interim spending bill to avoid a government shutdown is effectively dead.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has all but yanked the plan off the floor after President-elect Trump, Vice President-elect Vance and Elon Musk torched the package to avoid a government shutdown this weekend and fund the government through March 14. 

Had House Republicans had the votes to pass the bill – without leaning too heavily on Democrats – Republicans may have been able to pass the bill late Wednesday afternoon before the intervention of Mssrs. Trump and Vance. But there was just too much grassroots pressure, sparked by Musk on X and elsewhere.

The stopgap spending package proved unpopular due to its size, and various legislative ornaments festooned on the bill like a Christmas tree. Conservatives were expecting Johnson to handle the spending plan differently this year at the holidays. But it backfired. Badly.

It’s notable that Mr. Trump did not weigh in until the 11th hour. He also demanded a debt ceiling increase. That’s something which faced the President-elect in the first quarter of the year and threatened to derail any legislative agenda or potentially spook the markets.

Johnson’s decision to veer off course – despite touting the bill heartily on Fox Wednesday morning – underscores several things.

This is a sign of things to come once President-elect Trump is in office. And that could present problems for Johnson as he may be at the whim of decisions by the new President?

Why did Johnson pull the bill?

It was wildy unpopular with his rank and file. But it devolved further once Musk and the President-elect got infused themselves. 

In many respects, Johnson’s decision to pull the bill was all about January 3. That’s the day of the Speaker’s vote. With 434 members to start the new Congress, Johnson needs 218 votes. Otherwise, he lacks a majority and cannot become Speaker. The House must vote repeatedly - as it did in January, 2023 - before electing former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., five days later in what was the longest Speaker’s race since the 1850s. 

Johnson tried to salvage himself in the Speaker’s vote by adding emergency agriculture spending to the bill. But Johnson is now trying to salvage himself by coming up with a new bill. 

The irony is that Johnson did not want to create drama before Christmas with a spending package. But drama is exactly what he got in what quickly became the worst Congressional holiday standoff since the fiscal cliff in 2012 or a government shutdown threat in 2014.

So here’s the $64,000 Question: What play does Johnson call next?

Does he do a clean CR to fund the government with nothing attached? Is it a bill that just re-ups current funding coupled with disaster aid? Do they attach a debt ceiling suspension as President-elect Trump has requested?

And then the biggest question of all: can ANYTHING pass at all? Especially without votes from the Democrats?

Johnson has a tranche of conservatives who won’t vote for any CR at all. Many of them would also not vote for a debt ceiling increase, either. 

And even if there is a new bill, do conservatives insist on waiting three days to ponder that bill? That triggers a government shutdown right there.

The deadline is 11:59:59 p.m. ET Friday. 

So this is going to require someone to pull a rabbit out of a hat. 

President-elect Trump’s maneuver today is reminiscent of a similar move he made in December, 2019 which sparked the longest government shutdown in history. 

Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., then-Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and others thought they had a deal to fund the government and avoid a Christmas-time shutdown. 

The Senate voted for the bill. Senators even sat in the back of the chamber and sang Christmas carols during the vote. 

Mr. Trump then balked at the last minute. House Republicans followed suit. The government shut down for more than a month