The House rejected Thursday a new federal spending proposal to avert a government shutdown as conservatives joined Democrats in sinking a deal endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump.
The measure was defeated by a 235-174 vote, with one member voting "present." House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., used a process that required a two-thirds majority for passage. Lawmakers now face a midnight Friday deadline to reach a deal on federal spending, or a shutdown of many government services will begin.
The new plan engineered by Johnson and heralded by Trump would have tied an extension of government funding through March to a two-year suspension of the federal debt limit, as well as a $110 billion disaster relief package that included $10 billion in aid for farmers.
Objections by conservatives began to emerge before the vote, even though Trump and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who were against the initial plan unveiled Tuesday, publicly supported it.
"APL is a 'yes' on the CR while majority of House conservatives say they're a no/hard no," Mica Soellner, a congressional reporter for Punchbowl News, posted Thursday afternoon on X. In another post, Soellner wrote Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is a "hard no" on the new deal.
Melanie Zanona, another congressional reporter with Punchbowl News, posted on X that Reps. Andy Ogles of Tennessee and Ralph Norman of South Carolina, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said they would vote against the new measure.
The initial proposal unveiled Tuesday, a 1,557-page bipartisan continuing resolution, was heralded by Johnson. But objections by Republicans, including Trump, torpedoed the deal and forced Johnson to go back to the drawing board.
"Deal has been reached," Luna posted Thursday on X about the new spending plan. "GOP will get it done. Go team."
In another post about 90 minutes later, Luna wrote: "There will be billions in cuts in wasteful spending! This plan is going to work for America."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., termed the new proposal "laughable" during a closed-door meeting with fellow Democrats, Axios reported, and with many conservatives saying they are against it, the chances of it passing a floor vote were in jeopardy.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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