Disaster Spending
That didn’t go well: Congressional leaders’ plan to quickly pass a bipartisan spending deal to keep the federal government open through March is now in disarray, as Republicans revolt against a quick passage of the 1,547-page bill.
The deal unveiled on Monday night called for an additional $100 billion in disaster-related spending, $10 billion in agricultural subsidies, pay raises for lawmakers, and a long, long list of various other unrelated, dubious policy proposals.
Republican fiscal hawks were the first to express frustration at the bill’s spending hikes and House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R–La.) concessions to Democrats.
I had hoped to see @SpeakerJohnson grow a spine, but this bill full of pork shows he is a weak, weak man.
The debt will continue to grow. Ultimately the dollar will fail. Democrats are clueless and Big Gov Republicans are complicit.
A sad day for America.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 18, 2024
This was quickly followed by some manic posting from billionaire and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) co-leader Elon Musk, in which he slammed the spending plan and endorsed calls to shut down the government until President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated.
Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2024
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2024
Either there is massive change or America goes bankrupt, therefore there must be massive change! https://t.co/JLDBbvt41w
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2024
Finally, Trump himself weighed in. In a joint statement with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, the incoming president instructed congressional Republicans to “GET SMART and TOUGH” and pass a spending plan stripped of concessions to Democrats, paired with a prolonged raising of the debt ceiling.
A statement from President Donald J. Trump and Vice President-Elect JD Vance:
The most foolish and inept thing ever done by Congressional Republicans was allowing our country to hit the debt ceiling in 2025. It was a mistake and is now something that must be addressed.…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) December 18, 2024
Notably, Trump’s criticism of the spending deal endorsed the bill’s inclusion of additional disaster relief and agricultural subsidies.
Shutdown imminent? In response to the Republican outrage, Johnson donned his firefighter’s helmet and attempted to rally support for the short-term spending plan, arguing that it was the best deal anyone could hope to get.
“We’ve got to get this done because here’s the key: By doing this, we are clearing the decks, and we are setting up for Trump to come in roaring back with the America First agenda,” he said on Fox and Friends, per The New York Times.
These comments seem unlikely to quell across-the-board anger from members of Johnson’s own party.
Ironically enough, Johnson became Speaker of the House on the promise that he would bring regular order back to Congress and forswear rushed, backroom-assembled spending bills that no one had any time to read or any chance to amend.
It’s a nice idea. As Reason‘s Peter Suderman wrote in The New York Times in October last year, “Because spending bills are negotiated not only out of public view but out of sight from most legislators, there
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