US Government Shutdown Looms As Trump-Backed Bill Fails In House.
The United States faces the imminent prospect of a government shutdown as a Republican-backed spending bill, supported by President-elect Donald Trump, failed to pass the House of Representatives on Thursday night.
The revised funding proposal, which required a two-thirds majority to pass, fell short after 38 Republicans joined most Democrats in voting against it. The bill had sought to avert a shutdown by tying government funding to a two-year suspension of the federal debt limit, a move strongly criticised by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who called it “laughable.”
This failure leaves Congress scrambling to devise a short-term funding plan, with just one day remaining before the government runs out of money.
The latest setback follows Trump’s rejection of a bipartisan funding deal previously negotiated by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and the Democrats. Trump’s opposition to that agreement was echoed by tech billionaire Elon Musk, who publicly criticised the measure.
Speaker Johnson now faces the daunting task of crafting a new plan within a matter of hours. Acknowledging the challenge, he described negotiations as a “long process” but gave no clear indication of what the next steps might entail.
If Congress cannot agree on a funding solution, a shutdown will see the suspension of non-essential government services, potentially impacting millions of Americans and disrupting key operations. The clock is ticking for lawmakers to prevent this scenario.
