The US Congress rejects the Trump-backed spending plan, leaving the government on the verge of a shutdown

A spending bill backed by Donald Trump has failed in the US House of Representatives as dozens of Republicans opposed the president-elect.

This leaves the US Congress without a clear plan just hours before a possible government shutdown.

Trump had called on Congress to resolve outstanding issues before his inauguration on January 20, but the right wing of the Republican Party refused to support the bill.

The package would have increased spending and paved the way for a plan that would add trillions more to the federal government’s $36 trillion ($58 trillion) debt.

Republican Representative Chip Roy, one of 38 Republicans who voted against the bill, said he was “absolutely disgusted” by the package.

It failed by a vote of 174 to 235, just hours after it was rallied by Republican leaders who wanted to meet Trump’s demands.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson did not provide details when asked about next steps after the failed vote.

A previous bipartisan deal collapsed after Trump and the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, spoke out against it on Wednesday.

Shutdown countdown

The government funding expires on Friday at midnight local time.

If politicians fail to extend that deadline, the U.S. government will begin a partial shutdown that would cut off funding for everything from border surveillance to national parks and cut paychecks for more than two million federal workers.

The bill that failed on Thursday was largely similar to the earlier version, which Mr. Musk and Trump had branded as a wasteful giveaway to Democrats.

It would have extended federal funding through March, provided $100 billion in disaster relief and suspended debt.

Republicans dropped other elements included in the original package, such as a pay raise for politicians and new rules for pharmacy benefit managers.

At Trump’s urging, the rewrite would also have suspended the national debt limit for two years.

Trump said anyone who supported a bill that doesn’t address the Democrats’ “quicksand known as the debt ceiling” should be “disposed of as quickly as possible.”

“They called for a shutdown,” JD Vance said of the Democrats.

“That’s exactly what they’re going to get.”

Tax cut implemented

Democrats criticized the bill as a cover for a budget-damaging tax cut that would primarily benefit wealthy donors like Mr. Musk.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries questioned the bill during floor debate in Congress.

Even if the bill had passed in the House, it would have faced major opposition in the Senate, which is currently controlled by Democrats.

The White House said Democratic President Joe Biden does not support it.

Previous disputes over the debt ceiling have unsettled financial markets as a U.S. government default would trigger credit shocks around the world.

The limit was suspended under an agreement that technically expires on January 1st.

When he returns to office, Trump wants to push through tax cuts that could reduce revenue by $8 trillion over 10 years, driving up debt without offsetting spending cuts.

He has vowed not to cut retirement and health benefits for seniors, which make up a large portion of the budget and are expected to rise dramatically in the coming years.

The last government shutdown occurred in December 2018 and January 2019, during Trump’s first term in the White House.

Wires