Trump-backed spending deal tanked after Musk wades in, with government shutdown imminent: Live
The proposed continuing resolution, championed by GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson, would have kept agencies running at current funding levels through to mid-March 2025
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Your support makes all the difference.A Donald Trump-backed spending bill has failed in the House vote tonight, after billionaire Elon Musk waded in to scupper a previous bipartisan deal.
Democrats tanked the bill, which leaves Congress with no clear plan to avert an imminent government shutdown that could bring chaos before Christmas.
Earlier today the president-elect celebrated the deal and claimed would keep the government open and push the debt ceiling deadline back two years.
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s previous bipartisan deal would have kept agencies running at current funding levels through to mid-March 2025 but the president-elect and JD Vance issued a statement on Wednesday complaining the bill does not address the nation’s statutory debt ceiling.
Democrats have meanwhile mocked tech billionaire Musk’s undue influence over the incoming administration, with Senator Bernie Sanders ironically praising “President Elon Musk” on X.
While Trump told Fox News Digital Johnson will “easily remain speaker” he added a caveat reiterating his earlier statement. Among the names floated as potential replacements for Johnson is Musk, with Senator Rand Paul noting the role is not limited to members of Congress.
U.S. applications for unemployment benefits come back down after last week’s big rise
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell markedly last week following a big increase the week before.
Jobless claim applications declined by 22,000 to 220,000 for the week of Dec. 14, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 229,000 analysts were forecasting.
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