Jeffries suggests Democrats will oppose a 'clean' funding bill after Johnson's plan falters
Share and Follow


House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) suggested Wednesday that Democrats will oppose any federal spending bill that strays from the bipartisan deal announced a day before, accusing GOP leaders of reneging on the agreement at risk of a government shutdown. 

In a brief statement, Jeffries invoked the growing conservative outcry over the negotiated continuing resolution (CR) — including opposition from President-elect Trump — and warned Republicans that they will “own” the economic and political fallout if a shutdown occurs. 

“House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government. And hurt the working class Americans they claim to support,” Jeffries posted on social platform X. “You break the bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences that follow.”

The warning arrives as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), under heavy pressure from conservatives on and off Capitol Hill, is considering a move to scrap the negotiated CR and shift to a “clean” bill that drops many of the additional provisions agreed to by the two parties. That list includes economic help for the nation’s farmers and $100 billion in emergency aid for victims of natural disasters around the country.

Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump loyalist who’s leading a cost-cutting project under the incoming president, is helping to lead the charge in opposition to the larger package. And Trump, along with Vice President-elect JD Vance, joined that chorus Wednesday afternoon in a statement urging Johnson and GOP leaders to torpedo the bipartisan deal and pass a thinner package. They also want Republicans to include an increase in the debt ceiling. 

“Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025. The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling,” Trump and Vance said. 

“Anything else is a betrayal of our country.”

The pressure campaign is just the latest headache for Johnson and GOP leaders, who are scrambling to extend government funding before Friday’s shutdown deadline while containing the outcry from conservative House Republicans who have long criticized Johnson for negotiating too readily with Democrats on spending bills.

Opposition from House Democrats to a “clean” CR would leave Johnson with little room for GOP defections given the hairline margins in the lower chamber. Uniting his fractious GOP conference could be a heavy lift given that a number of Republican lawmakers have never voted for a CR and wouldn’t be eager to break that streak this month, even with Trump’s encouragement. 

Democrats, meanwhile, seem ready to let GOP leaders manage on their own whatever repercussions follow if they abandon the bipartisan package for a partisan bill. 

“They’re in charge,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (Mass.), senior Democrat on the powerful Rules Committee. “They have to figure it out.”

Across the Capitol, Senate Democrats are also hammering the Republicans for their last-minute reversal, accusing GOP leaders of caving to demands of figures who aren’t even in power yet.

“I don’t think, with all due respect, that President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance should be controlling the process in any way at this point,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said. “They’ll have plenty of opportunity over four years to raise the debt limit, or to seek to raise the debt limit, or anything else that they will try to do, unwise as it may be.

“They ought to be in office before they start dictating what we should be doing.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) also blasted Trump’s late lobbying, wondering why the president-elect hadn’t weighed in during the weeks of negotiations that led up to Tuesday’s spending agreement.

“They come in and undermine us two days before the government shutdown deadline?” she asked. “That doesn’t seem like, at all, a good way to do business.”

Share and Follow
You May Also Like
Iconic rocker sustains crash injuries after falling asleep at wheel

Famous rock star gets hurt in a car accident caused by falling asleep while driving

Terry Luttrell of REO Speedwagon is on the mend after surviving a…
Tulsi Gabbard's misstep that left her excluded from plans for war

How Tulsi Gabbard’s mistake caused her to be omitted from war strategies.

Tulsi Gabbard, the National Intelligence Director, has been excluded from the Trump…
Missiles hit hospitals, homes and families: Inside Israel's terrifying Iranian bombardment

Missiles hit hospitals, homes and families: Inside Israel’s terrifying Iranian bombardment

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! CENTRAL ISRAEL – At…
Trump to make Iran decision 'within the next two weeks' given 'chance' of negotiations, Leavitt says

Trump to make Iran decision ‘within the next two weeks’ given ‘chance’ of negotiations, Leavitt says

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! White House Press Secretary…
Before and after photos of Iran's Arak heavy water reactor following Israeli airstrike

Photographs before and after Israeli airstrike on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor

1 The before and after photos shed light on the damage inflicted…
Two men convicted in Pennsylvania mayoral race election fraud case hit with harsher sentences than expected

Two men convicted in Pennsylvania mayoral race election fraud case hit with harsher sentences than expected

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A judge slapped two…
Hiker found dead after dayslong search in notorious mountain range

Hiker found dead after dayslong search in notorious mountain range

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! An extensive four-day search…
Military-trained dad accused of killing daughters nears 3 weeks living in wilderness amid manhunt

Military-trained dad accused of killing daughters nears 3 weeks living in wilderness amid manhunt

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! The manhunt for the…