President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance have demanded that Republicans in the House and Senate effectively force the federal government to shut down rather than pass a stopgap funding bill that would have kept agencies running at current funding levels through the end of March 2025.
In a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter) by Vance, the incoming president and vice president groused that the bill doesn’t raise the nation’s statutory debt ceiling and accused legislators of “considering a spending bill that would give sweetheart provisions for government censors and for Liz Cheney” – because the continuing resolution drafted by House Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team would have kept the executive branch from using a loophole in the law to obtain phone and other communications records from members of Congress and aides who are supposed to be protected by congressional immunity.
They also complained about the bill not declining an annual pay increase for members of Congress who haven’t gotten a raise in nearly two decades, and urged passage of “a streamlined spending bill that doesn’t give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want.”
“Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025. The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country,” they said, adding a baseless accusation that it is President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats who are holding up passage of the funding bill, which includes billions in disaster relief and aid to farmers.
“If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF,” they said.
The White House responded Wednesday evening.
“Republicans need to stop playing politics with this bipartisan agreement or they will hurt hardworking Americans and create instability across the country,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance ordered Republicans to shut down the government and they are threatening to do just that—while undermining communities recovering from disasters, farmers and ranchers, and community health centers.”
“Triggering a damaging government shutdown would hurt families who are gathering to meet with their loved ones and endanger the basic services Americans from veterans to Social Security recipients rely on,” the press secretary continued. “A deal is a deal. Republicans should keep their word.”
The move by Trump and Vance against the stopgap funding bill comes less than three days before the government is set to run out of money. It also followed an hours-long stream of ranting X posts by Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, who threatened to fund primary challengers against any Republican who supported the bill that had been drafted and put forth by Republican leaders in the GOP-controlled House.
Musk downplayed the consequences of shutting down the government in a post on X.
“Shutting down” the government (which doesn’t actually shut down critical functions btw) is infinitely better than passing a horrible bill https://t.co/jfFCVWd2T2
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2024
“Shutting down” the government (which doesn’t actually shut down critical functions btw) is infinitely better than passing a horrible bill,” he said.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2024
Musk also quote-tweeted a post saying that the government should be closed until January 20, when Trump would be sworn in.
The Tesla executive who also served as a major funder of Trump’s campaign and whom the president-elect tapped to lead a Department of Government Efficiency, also threatened that lawmakers who vote for the bill would lose their jobs.
Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2024
“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!”
The move sent Congress into chaos, with the House postponing votes until Thursday. For most of the negotiations, Trump stayed mostly silent, which prompted Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah to criticize him.
“President Trump has comments on almost everything going on around the world,” he told The Independent. “We have a big vote coming up this week. What would he like us to do?”
The government was set to run out of money this week. If Congress does not act, the government would go into a shutdown where all but the basic services would be slashed, including military pay.
Democrats currently control the Senate but are set to hand over control to the Republicans on January 3rd. Musk’s call would essentially ask the government to only reopen once Trump has assumed control, meaning the government would be closed for 33 days.
