Republicans announce funding agreement, Thursday vote as shutdown looms
House Republicans have reached an agreement on a plan B to avert a government shutdown ahead of Friday’s deadline and plan to vote Thursday, lawmakers announced.
The bill, titled the American Relief Act, includes a three-month continuation of government funding and a two-year suspension of the debt limit, a provision that President-elect Trump called for Wednesday.
It keeps a chunk of the bipartisan provisions from the initial package negotiated by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) while stripping out controversial measures like a pay raise for members of Congress — but there are other key differences.
Getting the bill across the finish line will be tough. Democrats still control the Senate and White House, and the plan B package is already getting opposition from hard-line conservatives in the House. Because leadership is bringing the bill to the floor under a suspension of the rules, it needs two-thirds support to pass.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) quickly panned the new bill.
“The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious — it’s laughable. Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown,” Jeffries said.
Clocking in at 116 pages, the legislation is significantly shorter than the more than 1,500-page bipartisan deal from earlier in the week. One source said a vote is expected on the bill at 6:30 p.m EST.
The bill keeps roughly $100 billion in disaster relief and about $10 billion for farmer economic assistance, in line with the dollar amounts included in the previous bipartisan funding agreement struck days back. And it will include a one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill.
In a break from Johnson’s initial package, however, language that would provide lawmakers with a pay increase was removed. Sources also said a deal for year-round E15 ethanol sales will not be included.
It includes extensions for some health care programs — but not all that were in the original deal. And reforms to how pharmacy benefit managers operate were stripped from the package — a bipartisan measure that significantly added to the initial bill’s length and complexity — were removed.
Reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, which got heat from Elon Musk and right-wing commentators, was removed. The SUPPORT Act, a bipartisan bill to address the opioid crisis, was also stripped.
The new package also doesn’t include previous language that would transfer administrative jurisdiction over RFK Stadium to the District of Columbia. The move comes after Musk also elevated misinformation that the prior package included a provision to “facilitate a $3 billion NFL Stadium” in D.C.
Federal funding for rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore that was destroyed by a cargo ship crash earlier this year remains in the new bill.
One source said the bill will be titled the American Relief Act.
Top House Republicans told reporters they plan to vote on the agreement Thursday, as Friday’s shutdown deadline rapidly approaches. It remains unclear, however, if the legislation will muster enough support to pass.
Even some Republicans teed off on the agreement quickly after details leaked: Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) called it a “bad deal” on Sean Hannity’s radio show.
Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) also expressed early skepticism of the bill to reporters: “Tell me what changed that was good. I just don't understand unless somebody's missing something or somebody's not telling me the details.”
Trump, for his part, endorsed the new spending deal — particularly the debt ceiling increase, which he called "A VERY important piece, VITAL to the America First Agenda."
“SUCCESS in Washington!” he wrote on Truth Social. “Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal for the American People.”
“All Republicans, and even the Democrats, should do what is best for our Country, and vote 'YES' for this Bill, TONIGHT!” he added.
An ideologically diverse group of House Republicans huddled in Johnson’s office for hours Thursday looking into alternate spending plans, including one stopgap that would have excluded a debt ceiling increase but instead been accompanied by a commitment to raise the borrowing limit twice next year.
That version would have excluded Trump's biggest ask — and a Democratic red line.
The plan, however, ran into a brick wall as hard-line conservatives, including those in the House Freedom Caucus, demanded spending cuts to offset the debt limit increases, a source told The Hill.
The source said the group was unable to find enough areas to cut in such a short period of time with the shutdown looming, prompting a “logjam” and leading them to scrap that plan.
The plan B comes after Johnson’s initial funding proposal that he had negotiated with Democrats was torpedoed by frustrated GOP lawmakers with help from opposition from Trump and a swarm of posts against it from incoming "Department of Government Efficiency" co-chiefs Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Mike Lillis, Nathaniel Wexiel and Aris Folley contributed. Updated at 4:58 p.m.
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