Republicans went against Donald Trump in Congress to keep the govenrment lights on.Credit: AP
Trump’s last-minute demand was almost an impossible ask, and Johnson had almost no choice but to work around his pressure for a debt-ceiling increase. The speaker knew there wouldn’t be enough support within the Republican majority to pass any funding package, since many Republicans prefer to slash federal government and certainly wouldn’t allow more debt.
Instead, the Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate next year with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with the routine operations of governing.
“So is this a Republican bill or a Democrat bill?” scoffed Musk on social media ahead of the vote.
The new 118-page package would fund the government at current levels through March and add $US100 billion ($159 million) in disaster aid and $US10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.
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Gone is Trump’s demand to lift the debt ceiling, which Republican leaders told lawmakers would be debated as part of their tax and border packages in the new year. Republicans made a so-called handshake agreement to raise the debt limit at that time while also cutting $US2.5 trillion in spending over 10 years.
It’s essentially the same deal that flopped the night before in a spectacular setback.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries was in contact with Johnson, but Democrats were cool to the latest effort after the Republican Speaker reneged on their original bipartisan compromise.
“Welcome back to the MAGA swamp,” Jeffries posted.
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Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said it looked like Musk, an unelected official and the wealthiest man in the world, was calling the shots for Trump and the Republicans.
“Who is in charge?” she asked during the debate.
Still, most Democrats approved the bill’s passage.
Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power but also the limits of his sway with Congress as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who is heading up the incoming administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency.