Congress barrels toward shutdown after House fails to pass Trump-backed funding bill

(CNN) — Congress is barreling toward a government shutdown after the GOP-led House failed to pass a funding plan backed by President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday, leaving Hill Republicans scrambling to find a path forward.

The Trump-endorsed plan was opposed by almost all Democrats, who are frustrated and angry after the president-elect tanked an earlier bipartisan deal, and a significant number of Republicans.

Government funding expires at the end of the day on Friday.

The GOP measure included a three-month extension of government funding, a two-year suspension of the debt limit into January 2027, as well as roughly $110 billion for disaster relief, according to five sources. The House voted 174 to 235, with 38 Republicans voting against the measure and 2 Democrats voting in favor.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told House Democrats in a closed-door meeting ahead of the vote that he was “not just a no, I’m a hell no,” on the new GOP proposal, according to a source in the room.

Democrats have argued that the two-year suspension of the debt limit will help Trump pass his tax plan, and they aren’t willing to make it easier for him given their opposition to it.

“This bill is designed to set up the GOP tax scam 2.0,” Jeffries said in remarks on the House floor ahead of the vote. “That’s what this bill today fundamentally is all about.”

Trump upended the government funding effort on Wednesday when he came out against the bipartisan plan that House Speaker Mike Johnson had backed. Trump is now demanding that any deal to avert a shutdown also address the looming debt limit, a complex issue that typically requires weeks to months of painstaking negotiations on Capitol Hill to resolve.

Trump said Thursday that he supports the new GOP proposal, saying on Truth Social, “All Republicans, and even the Democrats, should do what is best for our Country, and vote “YES” for this Bill, TONIGHT!”

Vice President-elect JD Vance blamed Democrats after the vote failed, arguing they were trying to prevent Trump from “negotiating leverage” in the first year of his new term and claiming Democrats have “asked for a shutdown and I think that’s exactly what they’re going to get.” Vance did not respond when pressed by CNN that 38 Republicans also voted against the bill.

Johnson, for his part, also blamed Democrats for the failed vote and told reporters, “We will re-group and we will come up with another solution. So stay tuned.”

As of Thursday night, the House was not expected to hold any additional votes as Republican leaders meet behind closed doors to chart a path forward.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said that Republicans are unlikely to bring the proposal through the House Rules Committee to try to pass it with a simple majority. “We are going to go back to the table and keep negotiating like we did last night,” he said.

Pressed on whether Republicans would try to bring it through the Rules Committee, he said, “Not on this bill. Not right now.”

As GOP leaders huddle privately on next steps, hardliner Rep. Chip Roy trashed the failed funding plan and signaled he wants more cuts to any future bill.

“I’m not gonna vote for another debt limit increase without knowing what the actual cuts will be. That’s a nonstarter,” a defiant Roy said.

Trump posted on Truth Social earlier on Thursday that Roy was “weak and ineffective” and called for a primary challenge.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York and a close ally of Jeffries, said he sees no reason for Democrats to provide votes for Johnson’s redrafted spending bill.

“No, I think we negotiated the deal in good faith,” Meeks told CNN when asked if Democrats should support the bill.

“We negotiated,” he added. “That should be the bill that goes over to the Senate.”

The sentiment is reflected in many corners of the Democratic Party. A half-dozen Democratic lawmakers told CNN after the release of the new GOP proposal that they did not believe they would support the plan.

House Republicans brought the new proposal to the floor under a maneuver that required a two-thirds majority to pass.

For Democrats, trust is broken with Johnson, ushering in a new era on the hill

Democrats now say they are through helping Johnson manage his unruly caucus after the speaker sunk the earlier bipartisan agreement to keep the government funded through March at the behest of Trump.

“I think that we’re all very disappointed. I mean again, your currency here is your word,” Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said.

The last 48 hours have gone a long way to unravel what had been a cordial and oftentimes fruitful relationship between Johnson and his Democratic counterpart, Jeffries. The two had found ways to keep the government funded, passed a massive defense policy bill, increased US aid to Ukraine and secured Johnson’s speakership from the far right wing of his party. What Jeffries had found in Johnson was a partner who he did not always agree with, but came to trust.

Now, Democrats say that has been shattered.

“Listen, we had a deal,” said Rep. Susie Lee, a Democrat from Nevada. “We had a deal that was negotiated. It was a bipartisan deal, and they’re the ones who walked away from it. Not us. And you know, keep your word and he’s gotta learn that.”

Democrats largely had respected Johnson’s ability to in their view “do the right thing,” despite the fact they had serious policy disagreements with him at times. Many applauded his bringing a Ukraine aid to the floor when many in his party and his own voters were urging him against it.

But the re-entry of Trump into the picture and Johnson’s need to remain in the incoming president’s good graces in order to clinch the speaker’s gavel are quickly ushering in a new era for the speaker and his relationship with his Democratic partners in the House. It’s a shift that many had thought they’d have time to adjust to in January when Republicans began their efforts on border security and taxes and the parties would retreat to their respective ideological corners. But, Democrats are realizing the new reality is already here.

“He is just gone back on an agreement that we had that put the needs of the American people first and now they are putting a bill on the floor that they never even bothered to pick up the phone and discuss,” Democratic Whip Katherine Clark told CNN. “To say that it is straining the relationship is an understatement.”

This story and headline have been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Ted Barrett, Ali Main, Aileen Graef, Morgan Rimmer, Kit Maher, Danya Gainor contributed to this report.

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