Trump and Vance criticize the Johnson-negotiated government funding deal and demand including a boost to the debt ceiling

CNN
—

President-elect Donald Trump delivered a letter to Capitol Hill on Wednesday that significantly increased the chances of a government shutdown just before Christmas, while also sending the clearest signal yet that he is seeking a dramatic showdown with Democrats over spending.

Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance on Wednesday sharply criticized a deal to fund the federal government through March 14 negotiated by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, undermining support for the plan across Capitol Hill just days from a shutdown period.

Trump and Vance criticized the bill for including what they see as Democratic priorities, but also injected the politically charged issue of the US debt limit, which the country is on track to hit after it is reinstated in the new year.

“Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief and set our country up for success in 2025,” Trump and Vance said in a statement. “The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRATIC GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country.”

During Wednesday, Trump was privately scrapping the spending deal in talks, multiple sources told CNN. That opposition sparked a battle among GOP lawmakers, and Republicans on Capitol Hill described Trump’s opposition as the final death blow to Johnson’s spending deal. It also raised the question of whether the Louisiana Republican would have Trump’s support for his own speech race in just over two weeks.

Johnson unveiled the text of his government funding plan on Tuesday night, but it faced withering criticism from the right wing of his party for being too supportive of Democratic priorities. Democrats would likely need to pass the bill in both houses of Congress.

Then came Trump and Vance’s eleventh-hour statement urging Republicans to take a tough approach on spending. They urged Republicans to attach demands for the debt ceiling debate to the bill to keep the government open.

“Republicans need to GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, CALL THEIR BLUFF,” Trump and Vance wrote in the statement.

“Let’s take this debate now,” they wrote about the debt limit. “And we should pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn’t give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want.”

The last-minute grenade into the spending battle — after a bipartisan deal had already been reached — dramatically increases the risk of a shutdown on Capitol Hill. Top Democrats quickly signaled they would be unwilling to go along with Trump’s new calls for a “streamlined” spending deal that rips out billions of dollars in policies that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had already negotiated with Johnson.

“House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government. And hurt the working class Americans they claim to support,” Jeffries wrote in a post on X, sending a clear sign that his party would not help save the votes for a GOP bill that ignores his deal with Johnson. “You break the bipartisan deal, you own the consequences.”

This story is breaking and will be updated.