Spending deal fails in US House

WASHINGTON — The US House of Representatives failed on Thursday to pass a new Republican spending bill after President-elect Donald Trump sank a bipartisan stopgap bill, leaving Congress with no clear plan to avert a fast-approaching government shutdown that could disrupt Christmas travel.

The vote was 174-235, with Democrats and some conservatives opposing the new funding bill crafted by House Republican leaders after Trump objected to the stopgap funding bill previously agreed upon by both parties.

"We are voting no on this bill, and to stop this reckless regressive and reactionary Republican shutdown," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the lower chamber said on the House floor.

The 116-page bill released on Thursday would fund the government at current levels until March 14, and would also extend the nation's debt limit through Jan 30, 2027, at a last-minute request from Trump.

A previously unveiled 1,500-page bill mainly allows the government to maintain its current spending levels for the next three months, providing lawmakers with additional time to negotiate new spending bills. It also includes $100 billion in disaster relief and a one-year extension of the farm bill with an extra 10 billion dollars in aid for farmers.

"We should pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn't give the Democrats everything they want," Vice-President-elect and Senator JD Vance said in a joint statement with Trump on Wednesday.

Debt ceiling

"The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill without Democrat giveaways combined with an increase in the debt ceiling," said the statement, pressuring the Democrats to cooperate on a debt ceiling increase immediately.

Government funding is due to expire at midnight on Friday. If lawmakers fail to extend that deadline, the US government will begin a partial shutdown that would interrupt funding for everything from border enforcement to national parks and cut off paychecks for more than 2 million federal workers.

The US Transportation Security Administration warned that travelers during the busy holiday season could face long lines at airports.

"Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling. Without this, we should never make a deal," Trump said in an online post hours after the bill failed.

After the failed vote, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson provided no details when reporters asked him about next steps.

Thursday's unsuccessful bill largely resembled the earlier version that technology billionaire Elon Musk and Trump had blasted as a wasteful giveaway to Democrats. It would have extended government funding into March and provided $100 billion in disaster relief and suspended the debt. Republicans dropped other elements that had been included in the original package.

At Trump's urging, the new version also would have suspended limits on the national debt for two years, a move that would make it easier to pass the tax cuts he has promised.

Johnson before the vote said the package would avoid disruption, tie up loose ends and make it easier for lawmakers to cut spending by hundreds of billions of dollars when Trump takes office.

Democrats blasted the bill as a cover for a budget-busting tax cut that would largely benefit wealthy backers such as Musk, while saddling the country with trillions of dollars in additional debt. Even if the bill had passed the House, it would have faced long odds in the Senate, which is currently controlled by Democrats.

Previous fights over the debt ceiling have spooked financial markets, as a US government default would send credit shocks around the world.

The last government shutdown took place in December 2018 and January 2019 during Trump's first term.

Agencies - Xinhua