US Government on verge of shutdown as Trump-backed funding bill fails to pass

20 December 2024, 05:42 | Updated: 20 December 2024, 05:43

The United States government is on the verge of a shutdown as Congress desperately seeks to push through a short-term funding bill.

The House rejected a short-term funding bill that Republican’s put forward to prevent the federal government running out of cash on Thursday night.

The proposal needed two-thirds of House Representatives to pass but failed to reach that number after 38 Republicans went against the party and blocked the bill.

It comes after President-elect Donald Trump ended the possibility of a previously agreed bipartisan funding deal first proposed by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson being passed.

Trump, alongside his billionaire ally Elon Musk, was extremely vocal in their criticism of the original proposal.

The new proposal, approved by Trump and the unelected Musk, tied government funding to a suspension of the federal debt limit.

Read more: Joe Biden's staff 'hid mental decline from day one of presidency' and cancelled meetings on his 'bad days'

House Minority Leader and Democrat Hakeem Jeffries branded the proposal “laughable.”

A third proposal now needs to be put forward, but the clock is ticking.

Elon Musk’s involvement in this impending shutdown can not be overstated.

The billionaire took to his social media platform X on Wednesday to brand Johnson’s bipartisan proposal “criminal.”

Musk said any lawmaker "who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years".

“Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025,” Trump and incoming vice-president J.D Vance said in a statement.

“The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country.”

With Johnson’s latest attempt failing, it is unclear where the US government will go next.

A bipartisan agreement is unlikely, as Democrats accuse Republicans of betraying them over the original funding deal.

"You break the bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences that follow," Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on X.

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Democrats have taken to branding the incoming co-head of DOGE “President Musk” for his clear involvement in this impending shutdown.

A government shutdown would see federal agencies forced to stop all non-essential activities.

This crisis comes as it comes to light Joe Biden's staff hid his apparent mental decline from the very start of his presidency, according to an explosive report - even though he planned to seek re-election just five months ago.

Mr Biden, who scrapped a second tilt at the White House after a disastrous debate against Donald Trump in June, was shielded from the public because of his poor mental acuity, the report claimed.

Staff cancelled meetings when Mr Biden was having a "bad day", restricted his reading material and limited his meetings with top officials, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation.

The Democrat, 82, has long been dogged by questions about his fitness for offices after several shaky moments - but staff have publicly backed him.

One Democrat official said: “In conversations that I’m having, they don’t even mention the president. It’s kind of sad.

“It feels like Trump is president already," they told the Times.

Robert Hur, the special counsel who interviewed Mr Biden over classified documents he had kept after his vice-presidency, called him "an elderly man with a poor memory".

Staff also had to instruct Mr Biden on scenarios that many would find simple, such as leaving a stage after a speech.