President-elect Donald Trump said on Friday morning that funding the government “is a Biden problem to solve,” adding that a shutdown should “begin now” if it is unavoidable.
Trump made the comment in a post on Truth Social after the House failed to pass a continuing resolution (CR) that he backed on Thursday. The revamped bill was put forward after Trump — with the help of his ally, Elon Musk — pushed back against a 1,547-page stopgap bill that had been negotiated between the GOP-led House and Democrat-controlled Senate on Tuesday night.
“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under ‘TRUMP,'” the president-elect posted on Friday morning. “This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said that the House is set to vote on another plan to avoid a government shutdown on Friday, The Hill reported. Congress has until midnight on Friday to strike up a deal before government funding runs out.
“Yeah, yeah, we have a plan,” Johnson said. “We’re expecting votes this morning, so you all stay tuned. We’ve got a plan.”
Nearly 40 Republicans opposed Johnson’s revised bill on Thursday. Most of the criticism focused on how the bill would extend the debt ceiling suspension for another two years beyond January of next year, when the current suspension is slated to expire. Trump addressed the controversy over the debt ceiling in a late-night Truth Social post, writing, “Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling. Without this, we should never make a deal. Remember, the pressure is on whoever is President.”
Speaker Johnson said a debt ceiling suspension “in no way reflects any lack of enthusiasm on our part to get about those serious cuts for the American people.”
Democrats, including the White House, are upset over Musk’s perceived influence on Congress and accused the party of “doing the bidding of their billionaire benefactors at the expense of hardworking Americans.” One Democratic congressman, Maxwell Frost of Florida, claimed that Musk is “the unelected co-president of this country.” Rep. Jaimie Raskin (D-MD) said that the Tesla and SpaceX founder is “basically the fourth branch of the government.”
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Some Republicans are hopeful that a spending bill will be passed on Friday. Sen. Markwayne Mulling (R-OK) told CNBC on Friday morning, “There’s a chance today [for] a clean CR, short-term clean CR — it may be for two, three weeks.”
“That was something that was discussed, you know, late last night, you know, even some discussions this morning,” he added. “I’m not going to say that’s going to happen, but you know, that’s really the option that’s on the table.”
Daniel Chaitin contributed to this report.
