Congress Scrambles for Plan B After Collapse of Funding Deal as Shutdown Deadline Nears

WASHINGTON—With government funding set to expire at midnight (ET) on Dec. 20, Congress is scrambling to avert a shutdown after President-elect Donald Trump expressed opposition to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) $100 billion funding extension, effectively dooming the bill’s prospects.
The continuing resolution (CR), put forth after extensive negotiations between Johnson and the members of the Democratic Party, included $100 billion in disaster relief, a one-year extension of the farm bill, environmental measures, veterans’ provisions, and other legislation.
“Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF. It is [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer and Biden who are holding up aid to our farmers and disaster relief,” Trump wrote in a Dec. 19 post on Truth Social….