Government shutdown live updates: Spending bill passes Senate and goes to Biden for approval
Preparations to close government agencies called off as president set to sign new legislation
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Your support makes all the difference.The US Congress has passed a spending legislation that will avert a destabilising government shutdown ahead of the busy holiday travel season.
The Senate, controlled by the Democrats, passed the bill by a 85-11 vote to continue government funding 38 minutes after it expired at midnight (5am GMT Saturday).
The bill will now be sent to the White House, where president Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law.Federal funding was about to run out at midnight on Friday and the White House Office of Management and Budget warned government agencies to prepare for the worst before the vote took place.
The late-night vote in the Senate capped a frantic week that saw president-elect Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk defeat an initial bipartisan deal, throwing Congress into disarray.
The final version stripped out some provisions championed by the Democrats, who accused the Republicans of caving in to pressure from an unelected billionaire with no experience in government.
The package had earlier cleared the House of Representatives, controlled by the Republicans, with bipartisan support.
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Raskin: Republicans are engaging in ‘legislative whiplash'
Rep. Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, blasted Republicans for conducting “legislative whiplash” as they scramble to find a solution to funding the government.
“So they think that they can engage in this process of legislative whiplash and then coercion at the last minute,” Raskin said. “And they think it’s very clever, but in reality, it ends up damaging them because the American people reject that as a way to govern, and it’s enormously wasteful and profligate to shut the government United States down.”
Congressman floats theory that Musk has promised Trump a ‘windfall’ if he does billionaire’s bidding
Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York suggested Thursday night that Elon Musk would provide President-elect Donald Trump with a “windfall” if the incoming commander-in-chief does the bidding of the X owner.
The Tesla CEO was successful in his efforts to take down a continuing resolution that was set to allow the government to remain funded through Christmas, forcing Speaker Mike Johnson back to the drawing board.
Musk tweeted against the bill Wednesday before Trump did the same, pushing for it to be voted down. Speaker Mike Johnson then withdrew the bill before introducing a shorter version Thursday which was rejected even as it was backed by both Musk and Trump.
Read more:
Congressman floats theory that Musk has promised Trump a ‘windfall’
‘The political and legacy media puppets all got their new instructions yesterday and are now parroting the same message to drive a wedge between @realDonaldTrump and me,’ Musk says
Senators lament Elon Musk’s influence and say shutdown would have been avoided if he ‘kept his mouth shut’
Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are both fed up after Elon Musk torpedoed a spending deal at the behest of President-elect Donald Trump and might trigger a government shutdown.
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff criticized the fact that the legislation delayed crucial assistance to victims of Hurricane Helene and Milton in his home state of Georgia.
“Disaster relief and economic assistance for Georgia farmers would already be on the way if Elon Musk could kept his mouth shut,” he told The Independent.
Read more:
Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are frustrated with Elon Musk’s antics
‘That’s the kind of s*** you run into when you started listening to people who aren’t elected,’ one Democratic senator tells The Independent
Johnson promises no government shutdown
Speaker Mike Johnson has told reporters that there will not be a government shutdown.
“We will not have a government shutdown and we will meet our obligations for our farmers who need aid, for the disaster victims all over the country, and for making sure that military and essential services and everyone who relies upon the federal government for a paycheck is paid over the holidays,” Johnson told the media.
He added that the Republicans have a “unanimous agreement in the room that we need to move forward.”
“I expect that we will be proceeding forward,” he told the press.
‘Trust breached’ after Musk gets involved in funding fight
Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said he doesn’t have much “clarity” on what Republicans are going to do amid the government funding fight.
“The details matter. And see what they move forward. They know how to reach Leader Jeffries, but it’s clear that the easiest bipartisan solution that gets us out of this mess, and that’s what we negotiated,” Aguilar added.
Regarding whether trust between the parties has been breached after Elon Musk dove into the funding fight, Aguilar said, “I think that there has been some trust that’s been breached. I mean, we had an agreement, and they backed away from that ... but look, we want to find a solution. We want to keep government open. The best, fastest way is the bipartisan solution that we negotiated.”
Trump team warns Starmer’s ‘horrible, arrogant’ ambassador pick means Britain will be ‘locked out’ of key discussions
Peter Mandelson’s nomination as Britain’s new ambassador to the United States has provoked fury within Donald Trump’s team, with one insider calling it a “horrible, arrogant” choice and his campaign coordinator publicly calling the Labour peer a “moron.”
The choice of the former EU commissioner and Blair-era minister, who previously attacked Trump as “little short of a white nationalist and racist”, prompted a warning that Britain will be “locked out of the most important discussions” with the president-elect’s team because of a lack of trust.
Read more:
Trump team aide calls new UK ambassador Lord Mandelson a ‘moron’
President-elect’s team deeply unhappy at Starmer’s choice for Britain’s new top diplomat
‘Democrats would absolutely support this,’ Boebert says
Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert commented on whether Democrats would join the House Republicans in voting for the new government funding effort, which includes voting on several different bills.
“I do believe that Democrats would absolutely support this ... because they ... already heard that [Democratic leader Hakeem] Jeffries is in favor of all of this going under suspension and one up or down vote. So why not break them all up and support that?” she said.
Before a vote, the House has to pass a rule on the floor, otherwise, they vote under suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds vote to pass.
Democratic Rep. Deborah Ross of North Carolina told The Independent they haven’t talked about this plan in caucus yet.
“If we put a clean [continuing resolution] with disaster relief and [a] ... farm bill extender, this is all bipartisan negotiated stuff,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas said. “For Democrats to vote against that means they’re shutting down the government.”
Government funding fight ‘is a mess that Speaker Johnson created,’ White House press secretary says
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a briefing Friday that the government funding fight “is a mess that Speaker Johnson created. It was his mess to fix … In this day and age, they were able to come up with a bipartisan deal.”
“The impact of this would hurt our veterans and vulnerable Americans across the country … Americans need to know that Republicans are getting in the way here,” she added.
Asked for Biden’s reaction to the labeling of Musk as “President Musk” or “Vice President Musk,” Jean-Pierre said congressional Republicans “under the direction of President Trump and Elon Musk are trying to pave the way … for $5 trillion to our national debt.”
“We’re talking about cuts for billionaires, slashing Social Security, slashing Medicare, slashing Head Start … congressional Republicans did what Trump and Musk said. That’s the reality. That’s what you reported,” she said.
When the press secretary was asked for a response to Republicans who are cheering on a shutdown, and what the consequences would be, she said, “It is sad that I have to explain that … One of their duties is to keep the government open … They’re picking their billionaire friends … not the American people.”
She also confirmed reports that OMB has been notifying agencies to prepare for a potential shutdown.
“Agencies did start notifying their employees of potential furloughs today at noon,” she said.
Hakeem Jeffries has the higher ground
For the past two years of House Republican rule, whenever a handful of conservatives said “hell no,” House Speaker Mike Johnson could lean on Hakeem Jeffries.
Unlike Kevin McCarthy, Johnson hasn’t unnecessarily antagonized Democrats. His decision to put Ukraine aid to the floor led Jeffries to bail out Johnson when Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a motion to vacate.
Johnson broke that trust when he caved to Elon Musk. There was a bipartisan deal on the table that had been negotiated by all sides in the House and Senate. By reneging on the deal, Jeffries has every incentive to hold the line and tell Johnson “hell no,” which was a common refrain among House Democrats on Thursday evening.
This spells trouble for Johnson. Next Congress, Republicans will have only 220 seats, barely a majority. Given there are a handful of Republicans who will always oppose anything Johnson puts on the floor.
Expect Jeffries to hold the line.
Mandelson says it is ‘great honour’ to be named UK ambassador to US
Lord Peter Mandelson has said it is a “great honour to serve the country” as the Prime Minister confirmed he had appointed him the next British ambassador to the US.
Labour grandee Lord Mandelson, who served in the cabinets of Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, becomes the UK’s top diplomat in Washington DC as US President-elect Donald Trump is set to return to the White House.
“It is a great honour to serve the country in this way,” Lord Madelson said.
Read more:
Mandelson says it is ‘great honour’ to be named UK ambassador to US
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was ‘delighted’ to appoint Lord Mandelson to the post.
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