House defies Trump and Musk, votes against bill to avoid government shutdown

Rep. Marc Molinaro – (R)-NY: On this vote the yeas are 174, the nays are 235, 1 voting present. Two thirds not being in the affirmative, the rules are not suspended and the bill is not passed.

LAUREN TAYLOR: The House of Representatives rejected a bill that would have kept the government open and avoided a shutdown. 

The bill fell short of the needed two-thirds majority to speed up its passage ahead of a potential shutdown that would start at midnight Saturday morning.

38 House Republicans joined the vast majority of Democrats in voting against the bill, with a rift among Republicans about how it handles government spending.

Rep. Chip Roy / (R)-TX: “$330 billion dollars. Congratulations, you’ve added to the debt since you were given the majority again on November 5th. It’s embarrassing. It’s shameful. Yes, I think this bill is better than it was yesterday on certain respects. But to take this bill, to take this bill yesterday and congratulate yourself because it’s shorter in pages but increases the debt by $5 trillion dollars, is asinine.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna / (R)-FL: The deal on the table will keep the government open for the American people and if you guys so choose to shut it down, it will be on you but not the Republican Party. We will not be going back to the table. This deal stands as it is. So let you go back home on Christmas and explain to your people why you shut down the government, because we won’t be doing it.

LAUREN TAYLOR: The latest spending bill, known as a “continuing resolution,” is a quickly amended bill tailored to the liking of President-elect Donald Trump and his top ally Elon Musk.

Musk posted repeatedly on X Wednesday condemning the original bill, crafted by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to win bipartisan support from Republicans and Democrats.

Both Musk and Trump opposed the bill, guaranteeing most House Republicans would vote against it and forcing Johnson to craft a new bill.

Now, there are two conflicting interests. Musk wants major government spending cuts. And while President-elect Trump agrees, he also wants to permanently suspend the debt ceiling, America’s limit on its ability to borrow for government spending.

The new plan lifts the debt limit, leading President-elect Trump to post on his social network platform Truth Social in favor of the bill.

“Now we can Make America Great Again, very quickly, which is what the People gave us a mandate to accomplish,” Trump posted.

But Democrats have attacked the bill over what spending Republicans chose to cut, as it removes more than the much-discussed pay raise for members of Congress.

The bill also removed funding for a bipartisan program for pediatric cancer research, as well as research into other diseases, including Down syndrome, and options to treat and detect sickle cell disease, as well as breast and cervical cancer.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries / (D) NY and House Minority Leader: “The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious, it’s laughable, extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown.”

LAUREN TAYLOR: It will be on Speaker Johnson to figure out a bill that would win the support of the majority of the House. 

But Johnson may not have the political leeway to rely on support from Democrats, as he’ll need nearly every returning member of the House Republican caucus to vote for him next month if he hopes to remain Speaker in the new Congress getting sworn into office in the new year.

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Lauren Taylor.

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