Outgoing Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warned of potential chaos ahead as President-elect Donald Trump's opposition to a year-end spending bill threw Congress into turmoil just days before a crucial government funding deadline, The Hill reported Wednesday.
Opposition by Trump and several GOP lawmakers left Congress scrambling to avoid a government shutdown before a midnight Friday deadline. The opposition to a stopgap spending bill negotiated by congressional leaders has sparked frustration across party lines.
McConnell quipped about the unpredictable path ahead.
"Oh, this is the way it's going to be next year," McConnell told CNN after Trump urged Republicans to sink the bipartisan deal, according to The Hill.
The 1,500-page short-term funding bill, crafted by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other leaders, would keep the government running while providing disaster relief and other funding. Trump, however, called for a clean continuing resolution that would also include a provision to raise the debt ceiling.
Democrat senators, already frustrated by the last-minute demands, pushed back against Trump's involvement.
"Speaker Johnson needs to get it together," Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said, according to The Hill. "The American people are counting on us. This is not the Christmas present, the government shutdown, that the American people deserve."
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., called Trump's proposal "foolish," and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., deemed it "unrealistic," noting that there had been no prior discussions about raising the debt ceiling as part of the funding measure.
Congress suspended the debt ceiling in 2023 at $31.4 trillion, but with the current national debt at $36.1 trillion, it will need to be raised to avoid the Treasury Department using extraordinary measures to keep the government from defaulting on its debt.
Republicans also were divided. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., doubted that Democrats would concede on the debt ceiling without leverage.
"Just because somebody asked for something if there wasn't leverage or benefit to it, I don't know why [Schumer] would accept it," Tillis said, according to The Hill.
Meanwhile, other GOP senators signaled they would oppose the deal even without Trump's intervention. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., criticized the spending package, preferring a clean stopgap measure with disaster relief funding.
"I already told leadership that I would not vote for that bill," Rounds said, adding he would support a clean resolution if it addressed urgent needs for communities impacted by floods in the south.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., echoed concerns about a shutdown, calling it "master-class dumb to shut the government down." He also voiced support for a clean funding measure with added disaster aid.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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