As the shutdown looms, the government’s funding plan is at risk following Trump’s demands

With a government shutdown looming by the end of the week, Republicans in Congress are under pressure from President-elect Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk to drop the funding bill negotiated with Democrats and vote on a bill that would keep spending at current levels would increase and eliminate additional benefits such as aid for disaster victims and farmers.

In a joint statement, Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance called on Congress to “pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn’t give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want.”

“Republicans need to get smart and tough. When Democrats threaten to shut down the government if we don’t give them everything they want, call their bluff. It is Schumer and Biden who are holding up aid to our farmers and disaster relief,” Trump and Vance said.

The House has no further votes scheduled tonight and it is unclear when a vote might take place. Speaker Mike Johnson huddled with members and staff in his office to find a path forward.

Earlier Wednesday, Musk spoke out against the bill, even going so far as to threaten lawmakers who vote for it.

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“Please call your elected officials immediately and tell them how you feel! They are trying to push this through today while no one is listening,” he implored his over 200 million followers.

He later posted: “No bills should be passed in Congress until January 20th when @realDonaldTrump takes office.”

Congress faces a shutdown deadline of Friday, when the current federal funding extension expires.

Republican leaders have discussed a clean short-term funding bill, but the details are unclear, sources told ABC News. This comes less than a day after Republicans introduced the text of the bill, which was the result of bipartisan and bicameral negotiations.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries signaled opposition to any new plan, warning: “If you break the bipartisan agreement, you will face the consequences that follow.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked about Musk’s contribution during an interview on Fox & Friends” on Wednesday morning. He didn’t seem worried that Musk’s input would affect the funding bill’s ability to get through both chambers before the deadline for a partial government shutdown expires at the end of the day.

“I communicated with Elon last night. Elon and Vivek (Ramaswamy) and I are in a text chain together and I explained the background to them. Vivek and I spoke last night around midnight and he said, ‘Look, I understand.’ It.’ He said: “We understand that you are in an impossible position,” Johnson said.

Johnson said Musk and Ramaswamy, the two DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) leaders, are aware of the difficult situation the speaker finds himself in with a slim majority and Democratic control of the Senate and White House. DOGE is an extra-governmental (or private) operation.

“We have to get this done because this is where the key lies. With that, we are clearing the floor and preparing for Trump to come roaring back with the American First Agenda. We will implement this with enthusiasm from January 3, when we start the new Congress,” he said.

Johnson called on Congress to pass this funding bill “so we don’t have a shutdown.”

“We arrive in March where we can leave our fingerprints on the expenses. That’s where the big changes start,” Johnson said.

Johnson, whose speaking engagement was marked by his dismissal of criticism from his far-right flank, had originally promised a clean bill that would simply increase current levels of government funding to prevent a shutdown. However, natural disasters and headwinds for farmers necessitated additional federal spending.

In the end, the bill included $100 billion for recovery efforts after hurricanes Helene and Milton and another $10 billion for economic aid for farmers.

Johnson told a news conference his hands were tied after “force majeure” necessitated additional money.

“It should be a very simple, very clean (continuing resolution) emergency funding measure, and until recently it was, to get us into next year when we have a unified government,” he said. “We had those massive hurricanes in the late fall, Helene and Milton, and other disasters. We must ensure that Americans devastated by these hurricanes get the help they need.”

Still, Republican spending zealots cried foul, accusing Johnson of stuffing the bill with new spending without any ability to pay for it and keeping drafting of the bill behind closed doors.

“We just generally don’t take the expenses seriously. And as long as you have a blank check, you can’t shrink the government. “If you don’t shrink government, you can’t live freely,” said Texas Rep. Chip Roy.

Musk also made fun of the amount of the bill.

“Have you ever seen a larger piece of pork?” he posted on X, along with a picture of the bill stacked on a desk.

-ABC News’ Rachel Scott and Katerine Faulders contributed to this report.