President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday approved a spending deal that House Republican leadership said he had reached to continue funding the government through March and avoid a government shutdown at the end of the week.
“All Republicans, and Democrats alike, should do what’s best for our Country, and vote ‘YES’ on this Bill, TODAY!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Earlier Thursday, House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole told reporters that House Republicans had reached an agreement among themselves. Asked if Trump is on board, Cole replied, “All I’ll tell you is we have a deal.”
Cole declined to divulge details of the deal, but told ABC News that the text of the bill would be posted online soon.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks to the press flanked by Reps. Katherine Clark and Rep. Pete Aguilar on Capitol Hill, December 18, 2024, in Washington.
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
But in his post, Trump said “the newly agreed American Relief Act of 2024 will keep the Government open, fund our Great Farmers and others, and provide relief to those affected by severe hurricanes.”
He also said that the bill would promote the increase of the debt ceiling to January 2027 from June of next year. Congress last raised the nation’s debt ceiling in June 2023 and suspended it until June 2025.
“A very important piece, VITAL to the America First Agenda, was added – The very unnecessary Debt Ceiling date will be extended by two years, to January 30, 2027. Now we can Make America Great Again, very quickly, which is what the People mandated us to accomplish.” Trump wrote.
House GOP leaders and Vice President-elect JD Vance had hoped to appease Trump’s demands, which includes any government funding legislation that includes raising or removing the nation’s debt ceiling, as well as right-wing House Republicans, who traditionally oppose any spending. agreement or increase the debt limit.
Meanwhile, Democrats have reneged on the deal Trump and Elon Musk originally struck with Republicans on Wednesday.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed disbelief that the bipartisan deal was broken, noting that Republicans will own the consequences, including the impact of a potential government shutdown.
“This reckless Republican-driven shutdown can be avoided if House Republicans do what’s right for the American people and stick to the bipartisan deal they negotiated,” Jeffries said at a news conference Thursday.
That deal called for extending government spending at current levels through March and added other provisions for relief for disaster victims and farmers and a pay raise for members of Congress.
Things changed on Wednesday after Musk began a pressure campaign on X with multiple messages against the deal. Later that day, Trump and Vance issued a statement urging Congress to “pass a streamlined spending bill,” and the president-elect echoed Musk’s threats by defaulting every member of the GOP.
Trump said ABC News’ Jonathan Karl The government will shut down Thursday morning unless Congress removes the debt ceiling or extends the government’s debt limit before taking office.
“We’re not going to hit the debt ceiling,” he said. “Nothing will be accepted unless the debt ceiling is done.”
Under current law, the federal government would hit the debt ceiling sometime in the spring of 2025, the first months of Trump’s second presidency. Trump, however, said he wants to take care of it now, while Joe Biden is president.
“The shutdown only affects the person who is the president,” Trump said.
Senator John Thune speaks to reporters on the budget continuing resolution proposal to avert a government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol on December 18, 2024 in Washington.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Some Senate Republicans, including John Kennedy and Mike Rounds, expressed his displeasure Johnson’s bill and Trump praised its inclusion.
But Sen. Thom Tillis, whose hometown was devastated by Hurricane Helene, said he would do everything in his power to slow passage of a government funding bill that does not include disaster relief.
Congress has a Friday night deadline, when the current government funding extension expires, to pass a new one or non-essential agencies would be shut down.
House Republicans were seen in and out of the speaker’s office Thursday, including House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris of Maryland.
U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer speaks to members of the news media as he leaves the office of U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson in Washington on December 19, 2024.
Leah Millis/Reuters
Jeffries told reporters that raising the debt limit as part of the government funding bill is “premature at best.”
“We will continue to maintain an open line of communication to see if we can resolve this issue on terms that are beneficial to everyday Americans,” Jeffries said when asked if he was talking to Johnson.
In a closed-door caucus meeting Thursday morning, Jeffries delivered the same message to Democrats: Republicans walked away from the bipartisan deal and now have to figure out a way out.
“This kind of chaos and dysfunction has real-world impacts on hardworking workers,” said Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla.
Rep. Bill Keating, D-D., told ABC News that Jeffries quoted President John F. Kennedy to the caucus: “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never be afraid to negotiate.”
“He said, look, we kept all our doors open in this negotiation. We made concessions. Most of us weren’t happy with the outcome of this, but you have to do your basic job. He’s saying that’s going to continue. We’re open to everything, but we’re not open to the bully tactics that Elon Musk is engaging in,” Keating said.
Rep. Andy Harris, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, joins a group of conservative Republicans to discuss a temporary spending bill to avert federal agency shutdowns, on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 18, 2024.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Rep. Brad Sherman of California said, “We had an agreement. We negotiated an agreement, and then Musk decided to change the agreement. Do I call him ‘President Musk’?”
Rep. Greg Casar of Texas, the new chairman of the progressive caucus, also criticized Musk.
“If the co-president here is cosplaying Elon Musk, I don’t know why Trump doesn’t just give him the Oval Office, or maybe Speaker Johnson should give him the Elon Musk mat if they want that billionaire to run the country,” Casar said.
While many Democrats support lifting the debt limit in principle, members left the closed-door meeting opposed to striking as part of a spending deal, insisting it should be a separate issue.
ABC News’ Emily Chang and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
