OAN Staff James Meyers
3:31 PM – Thursday, December 19, 2024
House Republicans have quickly reached a new funding deal to stave off a government shutdown on Friday, with President-elect Donald Trump calling on all members of the conference to pass it as soon as Thursday night.
The newest funding deal would help the government continue to operate for three more months, re-up farming aid, add a two-year suspension of the debt limit until January 30th, 2027, and replenishment disaster relief.
It also retracts certain “excessive spending” terms from Wednesday’s first funding bill, according to the 116-page bill.
“Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal for the American People,” Trump announced on Truth Social.
“All Republicans, and even the Democrats, should do what is best for our Country, and vote ‘YES’ for this Bill, TONIGHT!”
The previous deal was more than 1,500 pages and was killed off by DOGE leaders Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and a handful of other GOP officials, including President-elect Trump, after expressing outrage over the bill’s details. Republicans referred to the lengthy legislation as being majority “pork” barrel politics.
“Pork barrel politics is the legislator’s practice of slipping funding for a local project into a larger appropriations bill,” according to Investopedia.
Lawmakers could have a vote in the House as soon as 6 p.m. (EST), according to multiple sources, but it’s unclear whether the bill will be approved by the Rules Committee or put immediately on the floor.
Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries already suggested on Wednesday that Democrats will most likely reject any updated bill that is more partisan than bipartisan, seemingly suggesting that the Democrats are working to make this new bill fail in any way they can after losing control of the House and Senate.
“House Democrats are going to continue to fight for families, farmers and the future of working-class Americans,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told reporters Thursday. “And in order to do that, the best path forward is the BIPARTISAN agreement that we negotiated.”
House rules state that a proposal that doesn’t pass through the committee will need two-thirds support from the lower chamber, which means some Democrats will have to vote in favor of it.
An uneasy House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) bunkered down in his office through Thursday with multiple Republican lawmakers filtering in and out of his office.
Trump has been kept in the loop on the deal, according to lawmakers involved in the discussions.
“The newly agreed to American Relief Act of 2024 will keep the Government open, fund our Great Farmers and others, and provide relief for those severely impacted by the devastating hurricanes,” Trump added.
News of the agreement came as the House Freedom Caucus was meeting up in order to create a game plan. Leadership has been keen on trying to rush the agreement through as quickly as possible.
The new deal will cut out provisions of the prior one, including a pay increase for members of Congress, up to $2 billion in funding for the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and reforms aimed at cracking down on pharmaceutical benefit managers, to name a few.
After knocking down the prior government funding plan, Trump called on Congress to address the debt limit, which had been under suspension until early next year. Now, the debt ceiling will be suspended until January 30th, 2027, but only if the measure passes.
If Congress does fail to pass it, the government will enter a partial shutdown after midnight Friday.
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