The U.S. government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. ET on Saturday unless Congress passes an emergency federal funding bill on time. But the politics are thorny, and the fallout could include the suspension of many federal programs and payments to workers.
President-elect Donald Trump has already scrapped a bipartisan deal proposed by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, plunging the Capitol into further chaos. Mr. Johnson is now struggling to find a compromise that satisfies both Mr. Trump and his fractious party.
“Welcome to the MAGA swamp,” top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries wrote on the social media platform Blue Sky on Friday.
Why is the U.S. government on the brink of shutting down?
Congress must pass spending bills each year to fund the government and pay salaries to the millions of federal employees who run it. Fights in Congress over the content of the budget often jeopardize the agreement.
Lawmakers are technically supposed to pass a spending bill by the start of the fiscal year on October 1, but the bill did not have enough support in the Republican-controlled House. So they passed a short-term funding measure known as a continuing resolution, extending the deadline until Dec. 20.
One key factor behind the fight is that Republicans hold a slim majority in the House, so just a few defections could jeopardize the speaker’s proposed legislation. Many of President Trump’s supporters in the House oppose the funding bill.
This week, the main opposition came from outside Congress, when President Trump, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and tech billionaire Elon Musk abandoned a bipartisan deal struck by Johnson.
President Trump accused the deal of having too many “favors” for Democrats and made explosive demands that any spending bill must raise or eliminate the debt ceiling, which limits how much the federal government can borrow. Ta.
The new bill, which was backed by Mr. Trump and would have funded the government through mid-March, was defeated outright in the House on Thursday, with nearly all Democrats and 38 Republicans voting against it. Mr Johnson vowed to “regroup” on Friday and bring forward new proposals.
What happens if the U.S. government shuts down?
Without the bill, the government would be unable to pay millions of federal workers.
It will begin immediately closing “non-essential” functions, including national parks, environmental and food inspections, and the Internal Revenue Service. Hundreds of thousands of workers could be furloughed. The 2013 government shutdown, which lasted 16 days, furloughed 850,000 government workers.
Services deemed essential, such as the military, law enforcement, border security, air traffic control, and hospital care, will continue, but government workers in these roles will not be paid until a spending bill is passed. do not have.
The last shutdown was in 2018, during President Trump’s first term, and lasted a record 35 days. President Trump and hardline Republicans in Congress have suggested they have no problem repeating that feat.
“As far as I’m concerned, the government could be shut down until January 20th,” Republican Sen. Marjorie Taylor Greene posted on X this week. “And we must stand firm with the American people to stop the madness!
What is Elon Musk’s role?
Musk, who was appointed by President Trump to lead the new administration’s efficiency drive, has been an outspoken critic of government overreach and played a leading role in killing the original bipartisan bill.
“Any Representative or Senator who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out within two years!” Musk posted on his X on Wednesday. President Trump subsequently voiced his opposition to the bill, but the bill was quickly killed.
Democrats say this highlights the outsized influence the world’s richest man has in the new administration, a line of attack aimed at undermining the next president.
“Elon Musk is making Donald Trump the bad guy,” Democratic New York Rep. Dan Goldman said Thursday. “It’s clear that Elon Musk is now in charge.”
Jeffries described the measure, which failed Thursday night, as the “Musk-Johnson government shutdown bill.”
Does President Trump want a government shutdown?
After collapsing bipartisan agreement, President Trump has said he would rather shut down the government before taking office so he can put the blame squarely on Joe Biden and Congressional Democrats.
“If there is to be a government shutdown, let it start now under the Biden administration, not after January 20th under Trump,” the president-elect posted on his Truth Social platform on Friday. “This is a problem for Biden to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!”
President Trump renewed his call on Friday that any deal must raise or eliminate the debt ceiling. This is a measure that will allow him to delegate the budget more freely when he returns to power next year.
“Congress needs to eliminate the ridiculous debt ceiling, or perhaps extend it until 2029. Without it, there should never be a deal,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Remember, there will be pressure no matter who is president.”
Will the same thing happen again in 3 months?
It’s possible. The first two rounds of stopgap legislation extended current government funding levels through March 14, but lawmakers could change that date in a third version.
No matter how long a funding agreement lasts, when it expires it will be re-contested, which can be just as difficult. But a stopgap bill, as opposed to a separate continuing resolution, would give lawmakers more time to negotiate and even develop a broader spending deal.
One element that can look very different is the identity of the speaker. Johnson will need support from members of his own party when the House votes on speaker in January, but he faces anger from some Republicans over the bipartisan agreement.
Right-wing Republicans have repeatedly threatened their leadership in the House over spending issues, including the 2023 insurrection that ousted then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Additional reporting by Alex Rogers in Washington
