Government funding bill clears Congress, averting shutdown; WA lawmakers react
Dec 20, 2024, 3:06 PM | Updated: Dec 21, 2024, 6:15 am

The U.S. Capitol can be seen in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)
(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a government shutdown deadline, the Senate rushed through final passage early Saturday of a bipartisan plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, dropping President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the new year.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had insisted Congress would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to shutter ahead of the Christmas holiday season. But the day’s outcome was uncertain after Trump doubled down on his insistence that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal — if not, he said in an early morning post, let the closures “start now.”
The House approved Johnson’s new bill overwhelmingly, 366-34. The Senate worked into the night to pass it, 85-11, just after the deadline. At midnight, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations.
“This is a good outcome for the country, ” Johnson said after the House vote, adding he had spoken with Trump and the president-elect “was certainly happy about this outcome, as well.”
President Joe Biden, who has played a less public role in the process throughout a turbulent week, was expected to sign the measure into law Saturday.
“There will be no government shutdown,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
Democratic Washington lawmakers respond to the bill’s passage
Washington Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray issued a statement late Friday after the funding bill passed, noting Congress “prevented a needless shutdown before the holidays and finally delivered much-needed relief to help communities that have been struck by disasters all across the country.”
From there, Murray took a more combative tone, blaming House Republicans for their recent actions during the process of trying to pass this bill.
“But let’s be very clear: it should never have taken this long or required this much chaos to get this done, and the only reason it did is because House Republicans chose chaos and chose to be dragged around by the richest man in the world,” Murray’s statement reads.
She also called out billionaire businessman Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump for their involvement.
“Whether or not we lurch toward a devastating shutdown that costs us money, hurts families, and sets back our economy should not depend on whether Elon Musk has the self-control to think for two seconds and do basic fact-checking before mistaking the most obvious Twitter trolls for policy experts,” Murray said. “The American people want—and deserve—better than the chaos we got this week thanks to Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and House Republicans.”
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat in the 7th District which represents most of Seattle, called the government funding deal “a victory for the American people and a loss for Donald Trump and Elon Musk” in a statement published online Friday night.
In addition to the pointing out what the bill provides, including disaster relief and aid to farmers and ranchers, Jayapal explained why believed this was a setback for Musk and Trump.
“Equally important, we forced President-elect Trump and Shadow President Elon Musk to back down from the 11th Hour demand to pass a suspension of the debt ceiling, a move that would have paved the way for a Trump Tax Scam 2.0 …” Jayapal’s statement reads.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Adam Smith of Washington’s released a statement following the passage of the bill. He noted that the bill will keep the government open, ensure members of the military and federal employees get paid through the holidays and “delivers urgently needed relief funding across the nation.”
He added that this type of action can’t happen in the future.
“We cannot get this close to a shutdown again. Congress must pass long-term funding bills as soon as possible to avoid nearing a shutdown again when this Continuing Resolution expires in March.
“Congress should be working to make life better for working families. I’m committed to passing long-term government funding bills that put working people’s priorities ahead of billionaires and CEOs. I look forward to working with my colleagues to deliver common-sense, responsible government funding bills,” Smith said in his statement.
U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, a Democrat in Washington’s 2nd District, said in a statement sent to KIRO Newsradio that he voted to avert the shutdown and fund the government into March 2025. However, he did call out the Republican Party for letting Musk and President-elect Donald Trump from wielding such influence in these matters.
“Moving forward, the GOP must reject the greed of Musk and Trump and focus on an agenda that improves the lives of the working families they claim to support,” Larsen’s statement reads.
U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, a Democratic lawmaker from Washington’s 1st District, also released a statement Friday blaming Musk for getting involved in this process and House Republicans for their actions in this process. She also praised House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., for his work to get the bill across the finish line.
“After weeks of hard work, Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate, and the White House had a compromise agreement to fund the government. Then Elon Musk blew up the deal,” DelBene said. “House Republicans stripped out the support for children, seniors, and others from the original agreement, bringing us chaos and to the brink of a shutdown. Thanks to Leader Jeffries, we were able to negotiate a new agreement that I voted for that supports our troops, farmers, and communities and prevents a dangerous shutdown.”
Democratic U.S. Rep Derek Kilmer of Washington’s 6th District, who is concluding his time in Congress as he chose not to run for reelection in 2024, published a post on X saying he voted to avert the shutdown in his final vote. He chose to focus on what his last vote instead of making a political statement.
My final vote.
To my constituents – it’s been an honor to represent you. Thank you for letting me work on your behalf. Having come into Congress in 2013 during a costly government shutdown, it feels only fitting that my final vote was to avert a shutdown. pic.twitter.com/bXAUeJiO0o— Rep. Derek Kilmer (@RepDerekKilmer) December 21, 2024
KIRO Newsradio has reached out to Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington’s 4th District for his comments. He has not yet responded.
More on the bill and Trump and Musk’s involvement
The final product was the third attempt from Johnson, the beleaguered House speaker, to achieve one of the basic requirements of the federal government — keeping it open. And it raised stark questions about whether Johnson will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry GOP colleagues, and work alongside Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk, who called the legislative plays from afar.
Trump’s last-minute demand was almost an impossible ask, and Johnson had almost no choice but to work around his pressure for a debt ceiling increase. The speaker knew there wouldn’t be enough support within the GOP majority to pass any funding package, since many Republican deficit hawks prefer to slash the federal government and certainly wouldn’t allow more debt.
Instead, the Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate next year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with the routine operations of governing.
“So is this a Republican bill or a Democrat bill?” scoffed Musk on social media ahead of the vote.
The drastically slimmed-down 118-page package would fund the government at current levels through March 14 and add $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.
Gone is Trump’s demand to lift the debt ceiling, which GOP leaders told lawmakers would be debated as part of their tax and border packages in the new year. Republicans made a so-called handshake agreement to raise the debt limit at that time while also cutting $2.5 trillion in spending over 10 years.
It’s essentially the same deal that flopped the night before in a spectacular setback — opposed by most Democrats and some of the most conservative Republicans — minus Trump’s debt ceiling demand.
But it’s far smaller than the original bipartisan accord Johnson struck with Democratic and Republican leaders — a 1,500-page bill that Trump and Musk rejected, forcing him to start over. It was stuffed with a long list of other bills — including much-derided pay raises for lawmakers — but also other measures with broad bipartisan support that now have a tougher path to becoming law.
House Democrats were cool to the latest effort after Johnson reneged on the hard-fought bipartisan compromise.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said it looked like Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, was calling the shots for Trump and Republicans.
“Who is in charge?” she asked during the debate.
Still, the House Democrats put up more votes than Republicans for the bill’s passage. Almost three dozen conservative House Republicans voted against it.
“The House Democrats have successfully stopped extreme MAGA Republicans from shutting down the government, crashing the economy and hurting working-class Americans all across the nation,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, referring to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
In the Senate, almost all the opposition came from the Republicans — except independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who said Musk’s interference was “not democracy, that’s oligarchy.”
Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power but also the limits of his sway with Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who is heading up the new Department of Government Efficiency.
The incoming Trump administration vows to slash the federal budget and fire thousands of employees and is counting on Republicans for a big tax package. And Trump’s not fearful of shutdowns the way lawmakers are, having sparked the longest government shutdown in history in his first term at the White House.
“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now,” Trump posted early in the morning on social media.
More important for the president-elect was his demand for pushing the thorny debt ceiling debate off the table before he returns to the White House. The federal debt limit expires Jan. 1, and Trump doesn’t want the first months of his new administration saddled with tough negotiations in Congress to lift the nation’s borrowing capacity. Now Johnson will be on the hook to deliver.
“Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling,” Trump posted — increasing his demand for a new five-year debt limit increase. “Without this, we should never make a deal.”
Government workers had already been told to prepare for a federal shutdown that would send millions of employees — and members of the military — into the holiday season without paychecks.
Biden has been in discussions with Jeffries and Schumer, but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “Republicans blew up this deal. They did, and they need to fix this.”
As the day dragged on, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell stepped in to remind colleagues “how harmful it is to shut the government down, and how foolish it is to bet your own side won’t take the blame for it.”
At one point, Johnson asked House Republicans at a lunchtime meeting for a show of hands as they tried to choose the path forward.
It wasn’t just the shutdown, but the speaker’s job on the line. The speaker’s election is the first vote of the new Congress, which convenes Jan. 3, and some Trump allies have floated Musk for speaker.
Johnson said he spoke to Musk ahead of the vote Friday and they talked about the “extraordinary challenges of this job.”
Contributing: The Associated Press; Steve Coogan, MyNorthwest