Summary
A potential U.S. government shutdown looms after 38 House Republicans joined Democrats in rejecting a Trump-backed spending bill, which included a debt ceiling increase.
Trump derailed Speaker Mike Johnson’s initial bipartisan plan, causing GOP infighting and weakening Johnson’s leadership.
MAGA allies Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy rallied for a shutdown, angering GOP moderates.
The failure could furlough federal workers and disrupt holiday travel.
Frustration grows within the GOP over chaotic negotiations, foreshadowing future challenges under Trump’s second-term agenda.
Good reminder that there are fights to be had for his agenda and they are not forgone conclusions. They will have just a 3 seat majority in the house - and a 1 seat majority for a couple months with their planned vacancies. If they can lose 38 votes on their own funding bill, they can lose 3 on others
They’re just fighting over the bag, which happens within the GOP during the best of times. Just because they aren’t uniform in certain policy doesn’t mean they won’t rally together to strip rights away from minorities, or enact more Christ based fascism.
I mean Matt Gatez already dropped out because he couldn’t get the senate votes. You won’t win every fight but that doesn’t mean you can’t win some important ones
For instance, the ACA survived narrowly, but it survived after people fought its repeal in the first term. It died in the senate narrowly. They had a much larger house majority (+26 more seats) then and it still barely passed the house 217-215
You only need 3 “moderate” republicans to vote against it. Or 3 MAGA republicans to vote against it because of petty reasons (maybe they’re mad at the bill’s author). Or just a few absences - there’s republicans with attendance issues
I think part of the key here is encouraged infighting between Trump and his Cabinet (mainly Musk). They’re all CEOs in one way or another and CEOs don’t like being told what to do.
The Democratic party actually seems to be getting that memo
The “President Musk” messaging is by design, at least partially. This week, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter and another person briefed on it, at senior levels of different Democratic congressional offices, and also within the Democratic National Committee, discussions have been had about having party leaders and elected officials actively portray Musk as effectively Trump’s boss, and to do so during television appearances that the president-elect is likely to see. The idea is that it’s a cost-free opportunity to potentially drive a petty wedge between the notably mercurial and ego-obsessed Trump and his similarly emotive pal Musk, and to sow some chaos in the upper ranks of the Republican Party.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/president-musk-dems-troll-trump-elon-1235211922/
