A Walking Guide to What Happened in the Interim Spending Bill

A 1,547-page temporary spending bill to avoid a government shutdown is dead. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has released the plan after President-elect Trump, Vice President-elect Vance and Elon Musk fired the package to avoid a government shutdown this weekend and fund the government on March 14. .

If the House Republicans had the votes to pass the bill – without leaning heavily on the Democrats – the Republicans might be able to pass the bill on Wednesday afternoon before the intervention of Ms. Trump and Vance. But there was much lower pressure, caused by Musk at X and elsewhere.

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The package to use the stopgap was not liked because of its size, and various legal decorations are decorated on this bill like a Christmas tree. The Conservatives had expected Johnson to handle the spending program differently this holiday season. But it backfired. It’s bad.

It is noteworthy that Mr. Trump didn’t weigh in until the 11th hour. He also demanded an increase in loans. That is something that confronted the President-elect in the first quarter of the year and threatened to derail any legislative agenda or that could disrupt the markets.

Johnson’s decision to deviate — despite putting the bill wholeheartedly on Fox this morning — underscores a few things.

This is a sign of things to come once President-elect Trump is in office. And that could bring problems for Johnson as he may be in the news for the new President’s decisions?

Why did Johnson withdraw the bill?

It was not an unpleasant thing about his rank and file. But it went further when Musk and the President-elect put themselves on the line.

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In many respects, Johnson’s decision to pull the bill was about January 3. This is the day of the Speaker’s vote. With 434 members to start a new Congress, Johnson needs 218 votes. Besides, he lacks a majority and cannot become Speaker. The House must vote again — as it did in January 2023 — before electing former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) five days later in the longest race for Speaker since the 1850s.

Johnson tried to excuse himself from the Speaker’s vote by adding emergency agriculture spending to the bill. But now Johnson is trying to redeem himself by coming up with a new bill.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) listens during a news conference following the Republican convention at the US Capitol on January 17, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Ironically, Johnson didn’t want to make a pre-Christmas drama using the cash package. But drama is exactly what he found in what quickly became the worst Congressional recess since the 2012 budget crisis or the threat of a government shutdown in 2014.

So here’s $64,000 Question: What game does Johnson call next?

Are you doing a clean CR to fund the government with nothing attached? Is the bill that just renewed the current funding associated with disaster relief? Will they stick to the debt ceiling freeze as President-elect Trump has requested?

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And then the biggest question of all: CAN ANYTHING pass at all? Especially without votes from Democrats?

Johnson has a group of conservatives who will not vote for any CR at all. Most of them also won’t vote for a debt increase, either.

And even if there is a new bill, do the conservatives insist on waiting three days to think about that bill? That triggers a government shutdown right there.

The US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The deadline is 11:59:59 pm ET on Friday.

So this will require someone to pull a rabbit out of the hat.

President-elect Trump’s strategy today is reminiscent of a similar move he made in December 2019, which caused the longest government shutdown in history.

Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), then-Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and others thought they had a deal to fund the government and avoid a Christmastime shutdown.

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The Senate voted down the bill. Senators even sat in the back of the room and sang Christmas carols during the vote.

Mr. Trump then backed off at the last minute. House Republicans followed suit. The government shut down for more than a month.