Watch a live view of the US Capitol after a Donald Trump-backed spending bill failed in the House of Representatives vote on Thursday.
Democrats killed the bill, leaving Congress with no clear plan to avert a looming government shutdown that could bring chaos before Christmas.
Elon Musk, whom the president-elect has tipped to lead the newly-created “department of government efficiency”, waded in to scupper a previous bipartisan deal.
The bill failed with all but two Democrats and 38 Republicans voting against it, and 172 Republicans voting for it.
House Republicans said they had struck a deal on a short-term funding bill 24 hours after Mr Musk and Mr Trump derailed a resolution and steered the government into a shutdown the weekend before Christmas.
Congressional Democrats called the plan that Trump’s billionaire deputy touted hours earlier “laughable.” House Democrats were heard chanting “hell no” as they met to review it on Thursday.
Reacting to the vote, the billionaire blasted House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and said the bill could have helped states reeling from hurricanes earlier this year.
Earlier on Thursday, Mr Trump praised the deal and claimed it would keep the government open and push the debt ceiling deadline back two years.
