On the march to the goal line, Republicans decided to punt.
House Approves Revised Plan to Avert Government Shutdown
After floating a nonsensical idea to go for three separate bills, Johnson decided to opt for a single bill to avoid a government shutdown.
On his third try, House Approves Revised Plan to Avert Government Shutdown
The proposal approved Friday would extend government funding until March 14, while also providing more $100 billion in disaster relief and $10 billion in economic aid for farmers. The bill also includes a one-year extension of the farm bill, the cornerstone of U.S. food and agriculture policy.
GOP lawmakers pledged to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending next year, but not vote on it now. President-elect Donald Trump had demanded in recent days that lawmakers vote to raise the borrowing cap before he takes office.
House Republicans were forced to formulate the new approach after a bipartisan plan released Tuesday was torpedoed by Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, and a slimmed-down measure backed by Trump was defeated resoundingly in a floor vote Thursday night. The bill approved Friday strips out a series of other provisions that were included in the bipartisan deal that Trump shot down, such as restrictions on investments in China.
We did not need a new approach, and we should be grateful that Musk torpedoed the bill.
NBC news reports House Passes Bill to Avoid a Shutdown
The vote was 366-34, with all opposition coming from Republicans and one member voting present.
The package funds the government at current levels through March 14, and includes $100 billion in disaster aid and a one-year farm bill — while stripping out a debt limit extension demanded by President-elect Trump earlier in the week.
On Wednesday, Trump had threatened to primary “Any Republican” who voted for a funding bill without a debt limit extension; on Friday, 170 House Republicans did just that.
“We are really grateful that tonight, in bipartisan fashion, with overwhelming majority of votes, we passed the American Relief Act of 2025. This is a very important piece of legislation,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters after the vote. “It funds the government, of course, until March of 2025. That was a big priority for us.”
Earlier Friday, leaders floated breaking up the package into three separate parts and having lawmakers vote on them individually on the floor, according to GOP sources familiar with the plan. But the one-package proposal was seen as an easier lift with the clock ticking down.
Exiting the private GOP meeting, Johnson told reporters there would not be a shutdown and that House Republicans are “unified.”
United Republicans?
34 republicans voted no.
Initially, in the next Congress, Republican can not afford any Republican defections.
Once Matt Gaetz (who resigned) and two Trump appointments from the House are replaced, Republicans will be able to afford two defections.
Musk Comment
“The Speaker did a good job here, given the circumstances. It went from a bill that weighed pounds to a bill that weighed ounces. Ball should now be in the Dem court.”
Mercy! The record shows Johnson tried to pass a 1,500 page monstrosity. Then he failed a second time on a 116 page bill that included a hike in the debt ceiling.
Democrats were smart to approve this final versions and they voted unanimously to do so. That alone should tell you that it was not the optimum Republican strategy.
No Pay Raise, No Debt Ceiling Hike
Rumors on Twitter, inaccurately confirmed by Grok, say Congress gave itself a retroactive pay raise.
However, the Text of the New Bill does not contain any of the following words (raise, COLA, retroactive, living). I could find no references to any section that contained a pay raise.
I appreciate the fact that the bill did not raise the debt ceiling like Trump wanted.
That’s a good thing.
But I would not call this bill a victory. Nor is it a total disaster.
It’s best viewed as quarterback Johnson punting on third down and one yard to go while inside the opponents territory. On the previous two plays, Johnson fumbled the ball.
I stick with my assessment Dear Congress, Please Shut Down, There’s No Need to Address the Budget this Year
But on the march to the goal line, Republicans decided to punt.
Any real chance PBM reform happens in 2025? As a pharmacist, we are ruled by a monopoly. I naively thought trump and rebus might help us out.
Repubs**
before a man is sworn into office, is a bit premature to declare failure. Perhaps hope, faith, and making your voice and opinion known to your state and federal legislators would be a better place for your efforts.
Snail mail still is a very real thing, and the fact that someone took the time to compose and write a letter doubtlessly holds more weight, than a tweet or an email.
Write your elected officials, change happens because of desire AND action.
Liberals just don’t get that
It’s nice to know federal taxpayers are picking up the $1.9 billion cost for the Francis Scott Key bridge and that those responsible for the collapse don’t have to pay a dime. “Maybe” when litigation is concluded the federal government will get something from them.
What’s more likely to happen is when the federal government becomes insolvent in the next 10 years or so, the bridge will be sold off for pennies on the dollar to a private company along with most other federal assets to help pay down the trillions of federal debt incurred doing dumb things like bailing out private companies responsible for destroying bridges.
I don’t think they can afford politically to do a shutdown until after Jan 1st.
Shutting down now would mean limiting air traffic control / TSA security etc. All at one of the busiest travel times of the years (Christmas – New Years). Can you imagine the uproar if flight times are massively delayed and security line wait times explode. It might not be political suicide but it definitely would leave bad memories in voters minds the next time elections come up.
So any shutdown has to be delayed until after the holidays.
I just hope President Elon Musk gets his act together and takes us to the promised land.
Hmm…looks like some Federal employees are necessary, after all.
TT that is false
Air Traffic is considered a vital program
its a preditctable media event, meant to panic everyone into pushing through yet another bloated, pile of debt onto the taxpayers.
just like covid was a pysop to generate fear and not ask questions, to push through an agenda to profit and move forward more agendas.
so to the ever present “Government Shutdown”, (this time it was the ever popular “just before Christmas Edition”) was brought to you by the fear apparatus at the last minute when it couldn’t be fixed or properly examined, WE HAVE TO PASS IT (or the government will shutdown).
365 days in the year, and yet this business couldn’t be handled until right before the last one expired. We are being manipulated and most too blind to see, we cannot think, only react.
its the motto of the modern world, daily. react, fear,react,fear.
its a treadmill for morons..
“365 days in the year, and yet this business couldn’t be handled until right before the last one expired.”
Well said. And that expresses clearly who Mike Johnson is.
false premise, we should have a proper actual annual budget, not a series of continuing resolutions.
Enact a simple new law: if a proper budget is not drafted and approved for any given fiscal year all House members forfeit their seats at the next election.
This is a basic part of their frigging job. Would you put up with such failures in à private business every g.d. year?
Exiting the private GOP meeting, Johnson told reporters there would not be a shutdown and that House Republicans are “unified.”
“34 republicans voted no.”
Luminance in the house of congress is provided by Gaslighting.
“Who is to blame?”
Ask the man in charge—Elon.
nice obsfuscation, obviously you get the democratic talking points. create strife, never solutions..
Musk is a wonderful target for the unthinking, yet another man to demonize, while the real machine grinds us all down..
I am not sure why American politics is so hard to understand. For me it is easy if you just follow one simple rule. If the decision benefits the ruling class, it will pass. If the decision benefits the people, it goes no where.
It was a can kick, no doubt about that.
It is up to Johnson to make the case to his caucus as to where the future is best served.
If the intent is to reign in Government then even fiscal conservatives must understand that it is improbable to force thru Draconian change. It is not going to happen.
They can change course and keep pushing towards the Goal of reduced size of Government as percentage of GDP. That is reasonable and doable.
His Caucus members need dump the ideology and get with Real World applications.
Since it was a CR which expires in March, Johnson bought some time. If he can not get his act together he would do everyone a Favor and resign.
Let’s not blame this on Mike. Can anyone please name the programs any Republican (including Trump) came out and said they actually want to cut? How about those 34 “conservatives”? Tell me what they wanted to cut, by how much, and who it would impact. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? The idea that anyone in Congress is going to try and cut the budget is ridiculous. Why would they do anything when you will vote them right back into power anyway? Is everyone really that stupid?
Afd and Musk https://imgur.com/a/pN2aJsx
I agree 100% that we should have shut it down! There was no need to not wait until 1/20/2025 to do so. Full control for real, and a clean bill could have been done. This was a joke of an outcome imo, when they had the Dems right where they wanted them. No more spending, No more BS budget items, and a CLEAN BILL could have been easily accomplished. WTF?
The Democrats would have voted against it demanding aid for farmers and the folks in North Carolina effected by the hurricane. The farm states are solidly Republican and North Carolina voted for Trump putting him over the top. No way Republicans could hand that to the Dems. Now the Reps could have just added that stuff in and offset it by cuts to stuff Republican like such as military spending in Republican strong holds, infrastructure spending in Republican strongholds, even small tax increases to offset the extra spending. But that would have required conservative support, which Republicans hate more than anything. The Republicans have no choice, and never will.
Currently, I think you’re on the right track and have posted similar comments. If the Republicans want to cut, they have to start picking specific geographical or policy areas. And then that is super ripe for a handful of Republican House members to hold out for what they want and gum up the final bill passage, just like Manchin/Sinema did to the Democrats before they quit/retired. Cuts seem super easy theoretically until someone writes it down on paper and those enthusiastic voters realize they are on the chopping block
219 – 34 (real fiscal conservative) = 185 (mostly RINOs)
In one swoop, we added at least $110B to the deficit with no offsets.
While I much prefer Trump over Comrade Kamala, he has said nothing about forcing the House to pass 12 funding budgets.
These are the people you blame. Talk is cheap, Trump.
If you wanted to suspend the debt ceiling again, you should have explained why. Alex Marlow on Breitbart says you goal is to keep Dems from using that as leverage. Okay, explain to me how that’s more important than getting back to passing budgets? You’re either going to get money to close down the border for good this time or not, and I don’t see how wrangling over the debt ceiling is going to affect those negotiations. I think the debt ceiling didn’t kick in until June or so. If you haven’t gotten money by then to shut down the border, then you’re not going to get it.
In about 30 days, Trump/GOP will have full control of all branches of government and we were all promised rainbows and unicorns but it’s looking like deja vu all over again of Trump’s first term with little getting done.
The RINOS have nothing to fear, Trump will be permanently gone in 4 years and his last attempt to change midterm elections failed so I doubt it will be different this time.
Ultimately, none of this matters, too much socialism baked into a salty cake that will taste sour in everyone’s mouth. Trump will be blamed for the coming collapse.
I hardly see a collapse coming, as this is not Venezuela. I see a major blunder by mikeee, but he’s a RINO (had me fooled to at first), so what did we truly expect from him? I see him being gone, and perhaps Gaetz will take the job he wanted from the start? We shall see…
Mikeee is a Louisiana politician. Enough said.
The coming economic collapse will have nothing to do with any president. But it may happen on Trump’s watch.
I said Trump would be blamed, the causes….
$36 trillion in debt and climbing..
$1 trillion in interest yearly and climbing
$1.4 trillion in social security payments and climbing
$1 trillion in medicare and climbing
76m socialists today and climbing
trillions for endless wars
We are fast approaching the impossible end game.
“It’s fed turtles all the way down and inflation all the way up!”
The only thing the GOP wants to cut is education, healthcare and entitlements. They have no intention of cutting pork for defense, agriculture, energy and other subsidies that benefit their constituents.
Trump’s intention is to actually blow the budget to repay favors to his billionaires oligarchs, with fat tax cuts and rich defense and energy spending. It will be interesting to see how they are going to raise the debt ceiling next year, because they will have to.
This is all about making very rich people even richer and all controlling. An oligarchy by any other name.
Lol
We’ll definitely see these Republican priorities within the next couple of months. Since they want to continue Trump’s previous tax cuts (which are expiring within a year) or cut them even further, I don’t doubt that will be among the first bills to go through.
And then to cut the current deficit and Trump’s new tax-induced deficit, that’s a lot of cutting to do. The Republicans will then have to actually lay out in bills what they are cutting for all to see. Maybe it will be what’s in your list? Or maybe it’s already been laid out in the Project 2025 plans?
I agree, was pathetic. At this point I expect fiscal insanity until we get a 1929 style crash..at minimum be prepared for a lot of inflation. Trump showed his true colors on this issue unlike the BS while on the campaign trail. I guess one could say he’s an improvement over Biden by having fully functioning mental faculties, as we’ve found out his predecessor didn’t. I thought this was a recent development but the rumors were right.
I really wish the GOP leadership did not keep reminding me why I made the right choice to leave the Republican party more than 20 years ago.
I am an independent ,now these folks gotta earn my vote
I was so hoping the government would just shut down for winter. Why not every winter until the budget is balanced and deficit under 100% of GDP?
They end up paying them all back pay to sit home watching reruns of Friends, eating Cheetos and spanking the monkey.
That Monkey is so abused by now!
Reverse Repos under $100B. Woohoo!
Here comes another slowdown in QT.
Liquidity continues to be sucked up!
Then, a surprise mini-EQ announcement mid-March after the American Relief Act 2025 runs out.
Seems to me it worked out as well as possible. In other words, shitty. They retracted the initial boondoggle bill, made an ill-fated run at passing a bill the senate wouldn’t have agreed to anyway and eventually passed the only thing that would pass. I never mind a shutdown, but that wouldn’t have brought about a real change in trajectory either. It’s pretty clear that our political system in its current state can’t produce any real solutions. Accelerationism – it’s not a choice, it’s reality.
As Mish says, that all Dems supported the bill shows the GOP could have fought harder.
Of course the Senate could blow this all up if they want.
“…not the optimum Republican strategy.”
LOL, like the democrats had a choice. It was either this or lose RINO Johnson on the spot and have the government shutdown until 2nd quarter of next year. Of course they voted for it.
I would have preferred it didn’t pass, but I believe Johnson is gone regardless.
If Trump is serious about a clean slate, then 1/3 should bring a real Sheriff.
Johnson was nothing more than McCarthy 2.0.
I like Rand Paul’s Musk idea. Hell, he’d do the job for free, making it DOGE’s first official cost savings.
Musk does nothing for free. His fortunes were made off the backs of American taxpayers. His is now fishing for more.
Why the picking on Musk? One could say this about every business sector.. big pharma, oil and gas industry, big ag, MIC, auto industry in general. and on and on..they all get giant tax breaks and juicy government handouts. Everything from no-bid contracts to tax breaks to forced immunizations…and much much more…
Capitalism is a government project.
Musk thinks his limited brilliance transfers to all domains. It is already obvious it does not. He sees only his fantasies and not real paths to get there, or what (and who) will be abused and destroyed on his path. He thinks sudden impulsive threats to Congress members (or anyone) will get what he wants. He is a spectrum guy alright. He is getting beyond his depth, visibly as we speak.
As it has always been, so shall it always be.
Brion McClanahan is correct. The republican party really is the stupid party.
Such a pathetic display.
With the passage of the bill the government will have about a 2024 2.3 trillion 7.6 % deficit to GDP spending ratio. The global conditions are ripe for a major recession. Any predictions on number 47’s first year’s deficit to GDP spending ratio?
I don’t know when or how but I know the (R) President will leave a recession and mess to clean up for the (D). The R’s always think they have the best economic solution to everything but in the end, mainly because of deregulation on multiple fronts, the economy collapses and leaves a mess for the country.
“mainly because of deregulation on multiple fronts”
I’m not sure where that came from.
Sources, please?
Savings and Loans were deregulated under Reagan leading to the S&L crisis and recession. Clinton, House Republicans and Greenspan deregulated banks leading to the 2008 recession. People think “deregulation” means removing unnecessary interference with producers. It doesn’t. It means letting bank CEOs hand out loans to any idiot to make a buck before everything collapses.
I was thinking the same thing during my gym workout today!
The business cycle runs about 8 years. The (D) president had a recession in the middle of the Great Depression. He wasn’t a deregulating president.
Yes, he attempted to raise taxes and cut spending to reduce the deficit. It sucked money and confidence out of the economy leading to recession.
If you spend wildly like the D’s do, you’ll never have a recession until the bill comes due (bankrupting the country).
How do you know that the R’s aren’t just cleaning up the spending mess the D’s left behind?
Ooooof …