House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) suggested Wednesday that Democrats will oppose any federal spending bill that strays from the bipartisan deal announced a day before, accusing GOP leaders of reneging on the agreement at risk of a government shutdown.
In a brief statement, Jeffries invoked the growing conservative outcry over the negotiated continuing resolution (CR) — including opposition from President-elect Trump — and warned Republicans that they will “own” the economic and political fallout if a shutdown occurs.
“House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government. And hurt the working class Americans they claim to support,” Jeffries posted on X. “You break the bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences that follow.”
The warning arrives as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), under heavy pressure from conservatives on and off of Capitol Hill, is considering a move to scrap the negotiated CR and shift to a “clean” bill that drops many of the additional provisions agreed to by the two parties. That list includes economic help for the nation’s farmers and $100 billion in emergency aid for victims of natural disasters around the country.
Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump loyalist who’s leading a cost-cutting project under the incoming president, is helping to lead the charge in opposition to the larger package. And Trump, along with Vice President-elect JD Vance, joined that chorus on Wednesday afternoon in a statement urging Johnson and GOP leaders to torpedo the bipartisan deal and pass a thinner package. They also want Republicans to include an increase in the debt ceiling.
“Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025. The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling,” Trump and Vance said.
“Anything else is a betrayal of our country.”
The pressure campaign is just the latest headache for Johnson and GOP leaders, who are scrambling to extend government funding before Friday’s shutdown deadline while containing the outcry from conservative House Republicans who have long criticized Johnson for negotiating too readily with Democrats on spending bills.
Opposition from House Democrats to a “clean” CR would leave Johnson with little room for GOP defections given the hairline margins in the lower chamber. Uniting his fractious GOP conference could be a heavy lift given that a number of Republican lawmakers have never voted for a CR, and wouldn’t be eager to break that streak this month, even with Trump’s encouragement.
Democrats, meanwhile, seem ready to let GOP leaders manage on their own whatever repercussions follow if they abandon the bipartisan package for a partisan bill.
“They’re in charge,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), senior Democrat on the powerful Rules Committee. “They have to figure it out.”
