The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives passed legislation on Friday to prevent a midnight government shutdown, defying President-elect Donald Trump’s request to re-issue billions of dollars in new debt.
The House voted 366-34 to pass the bill, a day after rejecting Trump’s demand for a debt ceiling.
The Senate controlled by the Democratic Alliance will also need to pass the bill to pass it on to US President Joe Biden, who the White House has said will sign it into law to ensure that the US government will be funded by midnight, when the current funding expires.
The legislation would extend federal funding through March 14, providing $100 billion to disaster-hit states and $10 billion to farmers. However, it would not raise the debt ceiling – a tough task Trump pushed Congress to do before he took office on January 20.
A government shutdown would disrupt everything from law enforcement to national parks and freeze paychecks for millions of government workers. A travel industry trade group has warned that the shutdown could cost airlines, hotels and other companies $1 billion a week and cause widespread disruption during the busy Christmas season. Authorities warned that travelers could face long lines at airports.
The package is similar to a bipartisan plan that was scrapped earlier this week after an online spat from Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, who said it contained too many unrelated provisions. Most of those things were touched on in the bill — including a provision limiting investment in China that Democrats say would conflict with Musk’s interests there.
“He obviously doesn’t want to answer questions about whether he plans to expand his business in China and how much American technology he plans to sell,” Democratic Representative Rosa DeLauro said on the House floor.
Musk, the world’s richest man, has been appointed by Trump to lead the budget-cutting task force but has no official position in Washington.
The bill also left out Trump’s request to increase the national debt, which was surprisingly rejected by the House – which includes 38 Republicans – on Thursday.
The federal government spent about $6.2 trillion US last year and has more than $36 trillion in debt, and Congress will need to act to authorize more borrowing by the middle of next year.
Representative Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, said lawmakers have contacted Trump but did not say whether he supports the new plan.
Sources said the White House has notified government agencies to prepare for an imminent shutdown. The federal government ended a 35-day shutdown during Trump’s first term in the White House because of a dispute over border security.
Previous battles over the debt ceiling have damaged financial markets, as a US government default could send credit shocks around the world. The limit is set under an agreement that technically expires on Jan. 1, although lawmakers likely wouldn’t have to deal with the issue before spring.
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