Trump and Musk reject bipartisan spending deal before shutdown deadline

House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared on Fox News last week and expressed great optimism about his party and its prospects in the new Congress. “Look, we’re excited,” the Louisiana Republican said. “We have already proven that we can govern with a small majority.”

He’s been saying that a lot lately. Johnson is clearly aware that the GOP will have a tiny majority in the new year, but the top Republican lawmaker on Capitol Hill continues to reassure the public that he and his party “know how to deal with this small one.” Majority rules.”

Part of the problem with that claim is that recent history points in the opposite direction: As the current Congress prepares to conclude, the Republican majority in the House has virtually no significant track record, and Johnson has had to repeatedly defer to the Democratic one Minority abandon advance must-pass bills.

But it’s not just recent history that contradicts the House Speaker’s boasts; it is also the present. The Washington Post summarized the state of affairs well:

It’s a story with several moving parts, so let’s elaborate.

Haven’t the parties already agreed on a bipartisan deal?

Yes. After several weeks of uncertainty, Democratic and Republican leaders — from both chambers — announced a compromise package that would prevent a government shutdown and extend the next deadline until March.

Isn’t that what most Republicans wanted?

Somehow. Johnson and his leadership team had to decide whether to pursue a spending package that would fund the government until the end of the fiscal year at the end of September, or whether to use a stopgap measure – a so-called “continuing resolution” (or “CR”) , which would keep funding the lights on until March. Rank-and-file Republican lawmakers wanted the latter, assuming the Trump White House and Republican-led Congress would be able to craft a better bill.

But?

But that meant the House speaker had to accept concessions from Democrats who still control the Senate and White House and whose votes would obviously be needed to pass a temporary package.

If there is a bipartisan agreement, what is the problem?

A great many Republicans in the House of Representatives are refusing to support the bill negotiated by their own leaders. Equally important, conspiratorial billionaire Elon Musk chose the bipartisan bill, relying on several demonstrably false claims about the details of the legislation, contributing to a far-right backlash.

And Trump?

After Musk launched an aggressive campaign against the bill, the president-elect followed suit and began making new demands of his own – including, strangely, a call for a debt ceiling increase, which struck members of both parties as bizarre – and even began threatening to do so with primary challenges against Republican lawmakers who oppose his wishes.

So the bipartisan agreement is dead?

Officially no, since it didn’t come to a vote, but both parties agree that the law is on life support at best and is unlikely to survive in its current form.

What do the Democrats want to see happen?

Their position is simple: Democrats negotiated in good faith, reached an agreement, and remain committed to honoring that agreement. They want Republicans to do the same.

What do Republicans want to see happen?

Well, that’s a moving target. Different players within the GOP want different things, although the common thread seems to be that Republicans want Democrats to (a) give up all the things the House Speaker agreed to them and (b) still help create a to adopt CR.

Would Democrats agree to this?

Almost certainly not. Musk, Trump, and rank-and-file Republican members of Congress created this mess, and Democrats see no reason to help them clean it up in return for nothing.

What now?

No one seems able to answer that question with confidence, but the clock is ticking: the deadline for the government shutdown is midnight on Friday.