The U.S. Congress found itself in a race against the clock on Friday, working tirelessly to prevent a partial government shutdown mere hours after a substantial number of Republicans rebuffed President-elect Donald Trump’s insistence on using the funding bill as a vehicle to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.
Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, was faced with the challenging task of devising a strategy that could garner enough support to pass both the House, where the Republicans hold a slim majority, and the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, as the midnight Friday (0500 GMT Saturday) deadline for funding fast approached.
“We have a plan,” Johnson declared to the press gathered at the Capitol on Friday. “We anticipate voting on it this morning.”
Discontent brewed among conservative Republicans as Trump’s call to raise the debt limit was met with resistance. The prospect of increasing the nation’s already staggering $36 trillion debt by trillions more did not sit well with this faction of the party.
Undeterred, Trump escalated the situation by proposing a five-year suspension of the U.S. debt ceiling, despite facing pushback from members of his own party who had earlier hesitated at a two-year extension.
In a post on his social media platform at around 1 a.m., Trump emphasized the urgency of addressing the debt ceiling issue, asserting, “Congress must eliminate, or extend possibly until 2029, the absurd Debt Ceiling. Without this, we should never entertain any agreements.”
An initially bipartisan agreement was derailed following objections from Trump and his ally, Elon Musk, the wealthiest person in the world, on Wednesday. A revised alternative promoted by Trump failed to secure enough votes, resulting in a 174-235 defeat on Thursday night.
The revised bill, aimed at maintaining the current level of the approximately $6.2 trillion federal budget until March and allocating $100 billion for disaster relief, omitted certain provisions that had been incorporated to appease Democrats, who still hold sway in the Senate and the White House for another month.
The White House clarified that President Joe Biden was opposed to the amended bill, further complicating the legislative landscape.
Past disagreements over the debt ceiling have rattled financial markets, underscoring the critical importance of reaching a resolution to avert a potential U.S. government default that could trigger credit disruptions on a global scale. The current suspension of the debt ceiling, under an agreement slated to expire on January 1, was an imminent issue that lawmakers were expected to confront in the coming months.
As the tension and uncertainty mounted in Washington, Speaker Johnson and his colleagues labored to navigate the intricate web of political interests and priorities to secure a solution that would prevent a disruptive government shutdown and address the pressing issue of the nation’s debt ceiling. The outcome of this high-stakes legislative battle remained uncertain, with the clock ticking relentlessly towards the looming deadline.
