A partial government shutdown loomed closer Thursday night after the House soundly defeated a scaled-down stopgap spending bill that included a debt-limit increase President-elect Donald Trump demanded, plus economic assistance for farmers.
The bill failed, 174-235, as some 38 Republicans joined all but two Democrats in opposing it. The bill needed a two-thirds majority to pass under a fast-track process.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., dismissed the bill as “laughable” after the House GOP released the text Thursday afternoon as a replacement for the 1,547-page version of the legislation that sank when multibillionaire Elon Musk unleashed a barrage of posts on X against it.
A continuing resolution that has been funding the government since Oct. 1 expires Friday. The new bill, like the original version, included a new CR to keep the government funded through March 14.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., endorsed the legislation.
“The bill released this evening provides much needed relief for agriculture, including $10B in emergency economic aid, which will help address the significant losses incurred due to both weather and market related issues. This addition of economic support is an important financial bridge, one that will help mitigate the severe downturn in the agricultural economy," Thompson said in a statement.
But some hardline fiscal conservatives made clear ahead of the bill’s release they didn’t want to increase the debt limit without spending discipline. Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy denounced the legislation on the House floor, saying both Republicans and Democrats were "profoundly unserious" about reducing federal deficits.
Democrats complained that Republicans had broken the bipartisan deal on the first version of the legislation because of Musk's criticism.
“Who do owe trust in this body? And above all, can the American people trust us?” the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, asked rhetorically.
Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Kathy Castor of Florida were the only Democrats who ultimately voted for the bill.
The bill included $100 billion in disaster assistance, plus the $10 billion in ag market relief that is critical to get the support of many farm-district Republicans. But dropped from the legislation was a provision that would allow year-round sales of E15.
The new legislation included a one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill but did not earmark funding for a series of smaller expired programs that would have been provided money through the original version of the legislation.
Also absent from the GOP bill was a provision that would have restored SNAP benefits to people who were victims of skimming.
“The newly agreed to American Relief Act of 2024 will keep the Government open, fund our Great Farmers and others, and provide relief for those severely impacted by the devastating hurricanes,” Trump said in a social media post about the new measure.
Musk also defended the measure. “If Dems reject this & government shuts down, they deserve to lose bigtime in the midterms," he said in a post.
But Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the two-year debt limit increase inserted at Trump's insistence was aimed at creating "head room" for a major tax bill that is a top GOP priority in 2025. "What we're really taking care of are the very rich people in America," Hoyer said.
Ethanol industry groups expressed anger that the E15 provision was dropped in the new bill.
"Leaving E15 on the cutting room floor is like putting coal in the stocking of America's drivers, farmers, and the rural communities that depend on American bioethanol," Growth Energy said in a statement.
“Pulling E15 out of the bill makes absolutely no sense and is an insult to America’s farmers and renewable fuel producers," Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, said in a statement.
Oliver Ward contributed to this report.
