Wake up with the Washington Examiner: How the continuing resolution died and set up an unexpected shutdown fight

The death of a CR House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has an anchor around his neck and a target on his back after a spending bill to keep the government operating until President-elect Donald Trump takes office died on Thursday. Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, along with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, joined the […]

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has an anchor around his neck and a target on his back after a spending bill to keep the government operating until President-elect Donald Trump takes office died on Thursday.

Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, along with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, joined the dogpile on Johnson and the bill, sealing its fate and putting a government shutdown on the table.

Vance posted a lengthy joint statement from himself and Trump on X, trashing the bill and demanding extra negotiations that would not only avoid a shutdown but also raise the debt ceiling — a complicated maneuver that would take months of negotiations at the best of times.

“The most foolish and inept thing ever done by Congressional Republicans was allowing our country to hit the debt ceiling in 2025,” Vance wrote. “It was a mistake and is now something that must be addressed.”

And Vance didn’t help his party’s cause by painting the change in explicitly partisan terms.

“Increasing the debt ceiling is not great but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch. If Democrats won’t cooperate on the debt ceiling now, what makes anyone think they would do it in June during our administration?” he wrote. “Let’s have this debate now. And we should pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn’t give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want.”

In case you weren’t glued to your phone last night, here is a quick recap of how the deal fell apart and what needs to happen before the government runs out of money on Friday at midnight.

Never a dull moment

Republicans had misgivings about the continuing resolution, a stopgap spending bill that keeps the government running at current levels until a new deal can be negotiated, when the text they were promised would be coming in a matter of hours took a full day. Rather than a straightforward agreement to check boxes and make sure the government didn’t shut down days before Christmas, lawmakers instead received a 1,500-page bill stuffed with provisions.

Johnson, knowing that he has a group of Republicans adamantly opposed to CRs, regardless of what is or isn’t in them, likely allowed goodies in to appease Democrats who he needs help from.

There were also calls for Congress to meet the White House’s request for an extra $100 billion in disaster aid to help regions of the country wrecked by hurricanes Milton and Helene.

The bill also included $10 billion for economic assistance to farmers.

But stuffed deeper inside the bill were poison pills that made Republicans queasy.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) posted a long thread on X disparaging the “CRomnibus” that was a “9 page CR and then there is new spending and hundreds of pages of other unrelated provisions.”

There was particular concern about a one-year extension for the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, an office that conservatives have said is unconstitutional and that the Washington Examiner has linked to the Global Disinformation Index and other groups that work to suppress conservative outlets and commentators.

Then there was Elon

Even with the right-wing grumblings, Johnson appeared to be in the clear to avoid a shutdown thanks to support from Democrats. He has a 219-211 margin, meaning he, theoretically, can operate without assistance from the other party, though his divided caucus has forced him to reach across party lines more than once — which has subsequently threatened his hold on the gavel more than once.

However, while Trump and Vance weighing in was the final straw, it may have been Musk’s tirade throughout the day that forced their hands.

Having been tapped to run the Department of Government Efficiency, along with Ramaswamy, Musk appeared to take his job as cost-cutting czar overly seriously on Wednesday, as he spent the day demanding Republicans renege on the deal they made and threatening to try and boot anyone who voted to support it.

Musk whipped up his more than 200 million followers on X to complain about the plan, not just online but also to call their representatives and demand they vote against the bill.

By the end of the day, he was trying to make the case that Congress should not do anything else this year or next until new lawmakers are sworn in and Trump is back in the White House.

Rather than break with Musk, who has been deeply engaged with the campaign and transition, it appears as though Trump decided to back his play, jumping into the fray with big demands and big threats.

“If Republicans try to pass a clean Continuing Resolution without all of the Democrat ‘bells and whistles’ that will be so destructive to our Country, all it will do, after January 20th, is bring the mess of the Debt Limit into the Trump Administration, rather than allowing it to take place in the Biden Administration,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried. Everything should be done, and fully negotiated, prior to my taking Office on January 20th, 2025.”

Republicans out on a limb

Now, with the already negotiated deal dead, Democrats are leaving Johnson to handle the mess on his own. They were happy to go along with the speaker to avoid a shutdown and eke out something for themselves in return, but with less than 48 hours until funding runs out, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said the ball is completely in Johnson’s court.

“House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government and hurt everyday Americans all across this country,” Jeffries said. “House Republicans will now own any harm that is visited upon the American people that results from a government shutdown or worse. An agreement is an agreement.”

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris didn’t weigh in on the fight from the sidelines, preferring to let Republicans hash out their internal differences themselves. Though White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did reiterate Jeffries’s criticism of Trump and Vance and said Republicans need to keep their word.

“President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance ordered Republicans to shut down the government, and they are threatening to do just that — while undermining communities recovering from disasters, farmers and ranchers, and community health centers,” she said. “Triggering a damaging government shutdown would hurt families who are gathering to meet with their loved ones and endanger the basic services Americans, from veterans to Social Security recipients, rely on. A deal is a deal. Republicans should keep their word.”