Last-minute budget bill aimed at preventing US government shutdown wins in House | Government News

A last-minute budget bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives to keep the federal government funded and operating until mid-March, averting an imminent shutdown.

The continuing resolution now moves to the Senate with just hours left before the shutdown takes effect at 12:01 a.m. local time (05:01 GMT) on Saturday.

On Friday evening, the interim budget bill passed the House with an overwhelming majority of 366 votes in favor.

Only 34 representatives, all Republicans, voted against the bill. One Democrat, Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, abstained by voting present.

We are truly grateful that tonight, in a bipartisan manner with an overwhelming majority of votes, we passed the American Relief Act of 2025, House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a news conference after the vote.

The interim bill, however, omitted a key issue that had stalled recent negotiations: the debt ceiling.

Normally, Congress assesses federal spending separately from the debt ceiling, which limits the amount the government can borrow.

But this week, President-elect Donald Trump derailed a previous bipartisan bill in part because it did not extend or abolish the debt ceiling, which he likened to a guillotine hanging above his new administration.

The debt ceiling has become a dividing issue among Republicans, some of whom fear that extending or eliminating it would open the way to unfettered government spending.

Trump, for his part, has threatened to impose primary challenges on any Republican who opposes his plan. He has indicated that he prefers that the debt ceiling debate take place under the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat and former electoral rival.

Unless Democrats end or significantly extend the debt ceiling now, I will fight to the end, Trump said Wednesday in a social media post. This is a nasty TRAP set by the Radical Left Democrats! They are looking to embarrass us in June when we vote.

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, one of the most vocal Republican opponents of raising the debt ceiling, leaves a Dec. 20 budget meeting. [J Scott Applewhite/AP Photo]

Trump's opposition to this week's bipartisan legislation put him at odds with Johnson, another prominent Republican leader. Johnson's predecessor as president, Republican Kevin McCarthy, was ousted last year in a historic vote over his role in passing a bipartisan spending bill.

After the first bipartisan bill was scuttled on Wednesday, Trump backed another version that failed in the House a day later on Thursday. All Democrats opposed it, as did 38 Republicans.

Friday's bill managed to restore Democratic support after closed-door negotiations. In his remarks after the vote, Johnson tried to frame the latest spending deal as a victory for Trump's America First economic platform.

This is America First legislation because it allows us to be prepared to meet the needs of the American people, Johnson said.

He also hinted at changes coming in January, when a new Congress is sworn in and Donald Trump takes office for a second term. When that happens, Republicans will hold a majority in both houses of Congress.

In January, we will make a radical change in Washington, Johnson said. Things are going to be very different here. This was a necessary step to bridge the gap, to enable us to be able to put our stamp on spending for 2025.

Like previous bills, the stopgap measure passed Friday contains about $10 billion in farm aid and $100 billion in disaster relief, a priority after the destruction of hurricanes like Helene and Milton.

But the sabre-rattling that had accompanied an earlier version of the bill had largely calmed by Friday evening, with Trump allies like billionaire Elon Musk striking a conciliatory note.

Musk, who called a version of the bill criminal on Wednesday, praised President Johnson after Friday night's vote for streamlining the legislation.

The President did a good job here, given the circumstances, he wrote on his social media platform X. He went from a bill that weighed pounds to a bill that weighed ounces .

Democrats, meanwhile, have questioned Musk's growing influence over the Republican Party. Musk is expected to advise the new Trump administration in a new role, within a yet-to-be-established nongovernmental agency known as the Department of Government Effectiveness.

Clearly, what Donald Trump wanted, he didn't get, Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz told reporters as he walked down the steps of the Capitol. Looks like Elon got some of the things he wanted. So it's interesting.

Moskowitz credited Democrats for giving Republicans the majority needed to pass the bill in the House, despite internal dissension within the right-wing party.

The drama that happened here over the past two days did not need to happen, he said. And we literally found ourselves in the same place we were always going to find ourselves, which was Democrats providing the majority of votes to keep the government open and serve the American people.

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