President-elect Donald Trump said the current need to pass a spending bill is "a [President Joe] Biden problem," and added it would be better for a government shutdown to occur now than after he takes office.
Congress was scrambling to avert a partial government shutdown Friday, hours after more than three dozen Republicans rejected a demand by Trump to use a spending bill to lift the nation's debt ceiling.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was trying to plot a course that could pass both his chamber, with narrow Republican control, and the Democrat-led Senate, as a midnight deadline loomed.
"If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under 'TRUMP,'" the president-elect posted Friday morning on Truth Social.
"This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!"
On Thursday, the House rejected Trump's new plan to fund the government and suspend the debt ceiling.
In a hastily convened evening vote punctuated by angry outbursts over the self-made crisis, the lawmakers failed to reach the two-thirds threshold needed for passage — but Johnson appeared determined to reassess, before Friday's midnight deadline.
"We're going to regroup, and we will come up with another solution, so stay tuned," Johnson said after the vote. The cobbled-together plan didn't even get a majority, with the bill failing 174-235.
The outcome proved a massive setback for Trump and his billionaire ally, Elon Musk, who rampaged against Johnson's bipartisan compromise, which Republicans and Democrats had reached earlier to prevent a Christmastime government shutdown.
Trump will be sworn into office and begin his second White House term on Jan. 20.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.