House Republicans have reached a tentative deal to avert a partial government shutdown that involves more or less breaking up the proposal that failed to pass Thursday night into separate bills.
The American Relief Act went down in a vote of 235 to 174, with 38 Republicans voting against it and just two Democrats voting for it.
The legislation had been the 116-page replacement to the 1,500-page bill that never even made it to a vote after several Republicans, the DOGE co-chairs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy and eventually President-elect Donald Trump came out against it.
One could tell Trump, who supports House Speaker Mike Johnson, was trying to give him some room to maneuver out of the mess.
Keep in mind, Johnson has to deal both with Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and a House that includes the fiscally conservative Freedom Caucus.
The 116-page bill had been a good step in that direction, removing a pay raise for members of Congress and several other Democrat add-ons, but included a two-year suspension of the debt ceiling limit, which fiscal conservatives like Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said Thursday he could not support without spending restraints being put in place.
This shows how much your voice matters!
And having a President like @realDonaldTrump means that your voice is finally heard. https://t.co/0a7QDJx9zt
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 19, 2024
Hence the new plan.
Should this have been the plan from the start?
“Two people familiar with discussions [said] that the deal would include a short-term extension of this year’s federal funding levels, disaster aid funding and agricultural support for farmers — but under three separate bills,” Fox News Digital reported.
“It would also involve an agreement to act on the debt limit next year as part of Republicans’ planned massive conservative policy overhaul via a process called reconciliation,” the news outlet added.
🚨🚨The votes will be:
– CR to march.
– disaster relief
– agNO debt limit. https://t.co/p52XKRlHTH
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) December 20, 2024
Budget reconciliation only requires a majority vote in the House and the Senate, and it is how Trump and the Republicans plan to pass new tax reform legislation, as it did in December 2017 with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
The legislation likely will include border security measures and other top priority issues that GOP candidates ran on.
So it seems like the best of both worlds to address the debt ceiling later, given the more complicated negotiations that will require, and get a much smaller bill to keep the government running past Friday midnight now.
After the American Relief Act went down Thursday night, fiscal conservative Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky suggested separating out the pieces of it.
“This isn’t complicated. Separate the bills and vote on them individually — one vote on the clean CR — one vote on the debt limit — one vote on disaster relief — one vote on farm bailouts. Radical right? Individual bills for each issue.”
This isn’t complicated.
Separate the bills and vote on them individually.
one vote on the clean CR
one vote on the debt limit
one vote on disaster relief
one vote on farm bailouts
Radical right? Individual bills for each issue.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) December 20, 2024
Trump was still pushing for a debt ceiling suspension on Truth Social early Friday morning, posting, “Without this, we should never make a deal. Remember, the pressure is on whoever is President.”
Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling. Without this, we should never make a deal. Remember, the pressure is on whoever is President.
Donald Trump Truth Social 01:16 AM EST 12/20/24
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) December 20, 2024
This is how politics works. Each side pushes for its own priorities, but as the old song goes — which was a favorite at Trump rallies in 2016 — “You can’t always get what you want … but if you try sometimes, well, you just might find, you get what you need.”
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