President-elect Donald Trump endorsed a new Republican deal Thursday afternoon to avert a government shutdown and raise the nation’s debt limit for two years, after sinking the bipartisan agreement Speaker Mike Johnson originally struck with Democrats.
“All Republicans, and even the Democrats, should do what is best for our Country and vote ‘YES’ for this Bill, TONIGHT!” Trump wrote.
The news caught House Democrats by surprise, and the caucus is expected to meet Thursday afternoon to discuss the new deal. Johnson will almost certainly need their votes to pass it through the chamber. The House is expected to vote on the plan as early as 6 p.m. on Thursday, according to three Republicans. The government shutdown deadline is Friday at midnight.
The plan Johnson is expected to put on the House floor includes, according to three Republicans familiar with the deal, a stopgap measure that funds the government through mid-March, a clean farm bill extension, the $110 billion disaster aid package previously negotiated with Democrats, clean health care provision extenders and a two-year suspension of the debt limit, kicking a new deadline into January 2027.
Trump on Wednesday derailed Johnson’s plan to pass a more than 1,500-page catch-all measure he negotiated with top Democrats earlier this week to avert a government shutdown, deliver more than $100 billion in disaster aid and enact a slew of unrelated policy priorities.
Shortly after the new Republican agreement was announced, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) already said he was opposed to the plan — an attitude other conservatives are certain to share.
“It’s a water-downed version of the same crappy bill people were mad about yesterday,” he said on The Sean Hannity Show.
Jordain Carney, Olivia Beavers, Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.