US House passes emergency bill to avert govt shutdown, Senate nod awaited

A partial United States shutdown was averted at the last minute on Dec 20 when the House of Representatives approved a government funding bill in a 366-34 vote.

The bill, which was initially criticized as overly “bloated,” came through after intense negotiations and objections from President-elect Donald Trump and incoming chief of the Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk.

“We will not have a government shutdown, and we will meet our obligations for our farmers who need aid, for disaster victims all over the country, and for making sure that military and essential services and everyone who relies upon the federal government for a paycheck is paid over the holidays,” speaker Mike Johnson said.

Shortened from 1547 to 118 pages, the legislation, which funds the government till March 14, 2025, includes $100 billion in disaster relief for hurricane-hit states and farmers, extends subsidies for agricultural purposes for a year, and allocates $25 million for the US Marshals Service and Supreme Court security.

However, it excludes Trump's controversial proposal to abolish the debt ceiling for a period of two years, which critics say would have helped the incoming president enact his agenda. The move was rejected by his own party members and failed to garner support in the House.

Other contentious proposals, such as a 4% pay raise for Congress, funding for renovations of the Robert F Kennedy Stadium, and measures against AI-generated non-consensual pornography, were also struck from the original version.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries played an instrumental role in breaking the deadlock, according to reports. While supporting the final version of the bill, Jeffries hailed the decision to reject Trump's proposal to eliminate the federal debt ceiling, saying such a move would have caused a “recurring crisis.”

Endorsing the revised legislation, Musk said on X (formerly Twitter): “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 (Democratics') court.”

The bill now awaits a nod from the Senate.

Meanwhile, in a scathing attack against Republicans, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “Republicans blew up this deal ― they did ― and they need to fix it,” she told reporters.

“[Republicans need] to stop playing politics with a government shutdown, and… they're doing the bidding of their billionaire friends, that's what we're seeing, at the expense of hardworking Americans,” she added in a veiled attack on Musk and American pharmaceutical giant Vivek Ramaswamy, who had publicly opposed an earlier bipartisan spending bill.

“This is a mess that they created, and they need to fix this,” Jean-Pierre said.