WASHINGTON (AP) — In his haste to avoid a government shutdown over the Christmas holidays, House Speaker Mike Johnson rushed Wednesday to salvage an emergency measure to keep federal offices running through March despite an onslaught of opposition from far-right conservatives led by newly elected President Donald Trump. billionaire Elon Musk.
Rank-and-file lawmakers denounced the massive 1,500-page bill for increased spending — including their first pay increases in more than a decade — a shock after one of the most unproductive chaotic sessions in modern times. A number of Republicans were waiting for Trump’s signal whether to vote yes or no.
“This cannot be allowed to pass,” Musk posted on his social media site X in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
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The outcome comes as no surprise to Johnson, who like other Republican House speakers before him has failed to convince his majority to agree to the routine needs of federal government operations that they would prefer to eliminate.
Even the addition of much-needed disaster relief, some $100.4 billion in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton and other natural disasters that ravaged states this year, plus $10 billion in economic aid for farmers, failed to to win over the austerity Republican Party.
It all shows how difficult it will be for Republicans to unite and lead the nation next year, when they take control of the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House. And it underlines how much Johnson and Republican leaders must depend on Trump’s blessing to get a legislative package across the finish line.
The president-elect had yet to decide what lawmakers should do, but Musk, who heads his new Department of Efficiency, led the charge against it.
Musk even warned that “any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out of office within two years!”
It is not an idle threat coming from Musk, the richest man in the world, who helped finance Trump’s victory and can easily use his America PAC to make or break political careers.
Democrats, who negotiated the final product with Johnson and the Senate Republican leadership, are expected to provide enough support to help Johnson secure passage, as is often the case with major bills. Federal government funding will run out at midnight Friday.
“The sooner Congress acts, the better,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said as he opened the House. “As always, bipartisan cooperation must lead the way – we cannot have last-minute delays or grandstanding.”
The final package extends existing government programs and services at their current operational levels for several more months, through March 14, 2025.
The emergency measure is necessary because Congress has failed to pass its annual appropriations bills to fund all the different agencies in the federal government, from the Pentagon and national security agencies to Healthcare, Human Services, transportation and other routine domestic services . When the budget year ended on September 30, Congress simply brushed aside the problem by passing a temporary funding bill that expires Friday.
But the inch-thick bill goes beyond routine funding and addresses several other measures lawmakers are trying to pass before the end of this congressional session, especially since some elected officials won’t return in the new year.
And then there is the pay increase.
Some lawmakers expressed concern that the bill eliminates a wage freeze provision that was included in the previous short-term spending measure. That change could allow for a maximum wage adjustment of 3.8% or $6,600 in 2025, which would bring their annual salary to $180,600, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service.
Members of Congress last got a raise in 2009, when salaries were increased 2.8% to $174,000 per year. If member salaries had not been frozen since 2009, salaries would be approximately $217,900.
Adjusted for inflation, salaries have fallen by approximately 31% compared to 2009, according to the research report.
Among other provisions in the package, there is full federal funding to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which collapsed when struck by a freighter that reported losing power just before the crash. Federal taxpayers will be reimbursed from insurance and lawsuit proceeds.
And there’s also a provision to transfer the land where the old RFK Stadium sits from the federal government to the District of Columbia, which could potentially lead to a new stadium for the Washington Commanders.
In health care, the legislation seeks to expand coverage of telehealth appointments for Medicare enrollees and limit how much money pharmacy benefit managers — the companies that negotiate how and which drugs are covered by insurance plans — make from these deals.
The bill also includes provisions aimed at countering China, including an expansion of President Biden’s executive order aimed at restricting investments in countries that pose a national security threat to the United States. Blocking China’s high-tech ambitions is one of the few issues that enjoys broad support in Washington from both Republicans and Democrats.