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Shop NowThe House reached a last minute deal to keep the government funded. That’s the good news. The bad news is that they ignored President Donald Trump’s plea to do away with the debt ceiling. At least during his term. He doesn’t like the “guillotine” poised over his throat but he’ll have to deal with it a little longer. At least, they made progress on trimming out the fat, along with making a symbolic promise to cut trillions in spending.
House makes a deal
The House of Representatives played let’s make a deal with Democrats. The distasteful compromise split the controversial parts into three separate measures and all of them passed.
The government has a funding plan, the disaster relief fund has been replenished and farmers are getting desperately needed relief.
The House got grinchy when it came to giving President Trump a Christmas present. The legislation wedged through congress with a pry bar “does not include a measure to increase the debt ceiling.”
That, sources say, is “a move that could spark the ire of the incoming president, who demanded that such language be included.” He promises to get even with Republicans who turned against him when their next primary comes around.
While unwilling to give up the leverage which comes with the debt ceiling limit, because Republicans are sure they’ll need it again later, they threw President Trump a bone. A nice meaty one which they hope will appease his anger, at least a little.
They fought fiercely to “cut trillions of dollars in spending.” When they got done, Elon Musk was happier than Trump. House leadership apparently took his criticism of their frivolous attempt at packing in the pork seriously. They trimmed it back out.
A way that helps
Before the deal was struck, Republican sources explained that the need to compromise now is only a short term solution. They knew Trump would be upset about not at least suspending the debt limit. House leaders wanted to show him that they remain fully committed to his government streamlining agenda.
“It’s just an agreement, an understanding, an acknowledgment that we will do this some way or somehow that helps Trump.” They did do that in the end.
While they know the measure isn’t what the president was asking for, they’re trying to assure him that things can be straightened out to his liking later.
“In January, we will make a sea change in Washington,” House Speaker Mike Johnson insists. “Things are going to be very different around here. This was a necessary step to bridge the gap, to put us into that moment where we can put our fingerprints on spending for 2025.”
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy were key players, stopping earlier versions of the bill cold. Musk called Wednesday’s version of the bill “criminal.” After Friday’s vote, he “praised Speaker Johnson” for what he managed to push through the House.
“The Speaker did a good job here, given the circumstances. It went from a bill that weighed pounds to a bill that weighed ounces.” That’s a good start.
