Trump-backed short-term spending bill fails in House on eve of shutdown deadline

A short-term spending bill backed by US President-elect Donald Trump failed in dramatic fashion Thursday night as a critical deadline to keep the government open rapidly approaches.

The bill, known as the American Relief Act of 2024, was rejected 174-235 with one Democrat abstaining as it failed to gain even a simple majority in the chamber controlled by Republicans. Under rules that fast-track such legislation, the bill needed two-thirds support to pass.

House Speaker Mike Johnson put it forward after Trump and his senior lieutenants, including tech billionaire Elon Musk, rallied Republicans against a bipartisan spending package that would fund the government through March 14, torpedoing the legislation after months of negotiations with a midnight Friday deadline just one day away.

Johnson told reporters on Capitol Hill ahead of the vote that "we're going to do the right thing," claiming the bill had wide support among House Republicans. But dozens of members of his caucus jumped ship in a sign of a lack of support, particularly over the bill's extension of the debt limit through 2027, a key concession to Trump.

Representative Chip Roy, who has vocally opposed the lifting of the debt ceiling, lambasted his fellow Republicans, saying they "never have any ounce of self-respect," drawing applause from some members of his own party.

"It's embarrassing. It's shameful. Yes, I think this bill is better than it was yesterday on certain respects, but to take this bill yesterday and congratulate yourself because it is shorter in pages but increases the debt by $5 trillion is asinine," he said in a fiery speech delivered on the House floor.

"And that is precisely what Republicans are doing. I am absolutely sickened by a party that campaigns on fiscal responsibility and has the temerity to go forward to the American people and say you think this is fiscally responsible. It is absolutely ridiculous," he added.

The opposition within Republican ranks makes Johnson's task even harder with near uniform opposition among Democrats.

"The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious. It's laughable. Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown," Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.

Without an agreement that can also clear the Democratic-controlled Senate, the government is slated to be shut down as of 12.01 a.m. Saturday (0501GMT).

If an agreement is not reached to fund the government, US troops would go unpaid until new funds are appropriated, and as with all other government agencies, all civilian staff deemed non-essential would be furloughed for the duration of the shutdown. All essential personnel would be paid retroactively after lawmakers agree on a new spending bill.