House defeats Trump’s hastily-crafted plan to prevent government shutdown

December 20, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Share this:

CAPITOL HILL — A NEW PLAN TO FUND THE GOVERNMENT was rejected in the Republican-led House of Representatives, just one day before a possible government shutdown, the Associated Press reported just before midnight on Thursday, Dec. 19. The plan, which President-elect Donald Trump had promoted on short notice after denouncing a bipartisan funding bill which his own party had crafted, fell significantly short of the two-thirds majority of votes needed to fast-track the legislation.

Even as some Republicans were quick to blame the opposing party, almost three dozen Republicans joined Democrats to vote against Trump’s unexpected demands and the quick fix that GOP leaders had hastily tried to organize. The bill failed to earn even a simple majority of votes, in a setback for Trump and ally Elon Musk.

Though the bill was defeated by a 174-235 vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) expressed a willingness to try again before midnight on Friday. The new bill, which would have kept the government functional for the next three months, included disaster assistance to states reeling from hurricane damage and allowed for more borrowing through January 2027, criminalized the creation of pornographic AI images, funded pediatric cancer research — and raised lawmakers’ pay.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer(D-NY), a Democrat from Brooklyn, observed, “It’s a good thing the bill failed in the House, now it’s time to go back to the bipartisan agreement we came to.” Brooklyn Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-09) earlier on Thursday had denounced the House’s rejection of its earlier bipartisan funding bill.