House GOP leaders scramble for Plan B after Trump, Musk leads conservative fury against spending bill

House GOP leaders appear to be looking for a backup plan after an initial bipartisan deal to avoid a partial government shutdown on Friday was buried in an avalanche of conservative opposition.

The legislation angered conservatives in both the House and Senate — as well as President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to co-chair his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk.

As Musk urged lawmakers who supported the bill to forfeit their seats, Trump’s presidential transition team released an official joint statement from Trump and Vice President JD Vance opposing the initial iteration of the deal.

The bill was expected to come up for a vote sometime Wednesday afternoon, but a planned round of votes in the late afternoon was canceled. Instead, senior Republicans are gathering in the speaker’s office to outline a path forward — less than 24 hours after the legislation was unveiled.

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Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., told reporters as she left Johnson’s office early in the evening, “There will probably be a new CR tomorrow. They’re negotiating right now. But there won’t be any votes tonight.”

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., told reporters a short time later that he expected a “skinny” CR with no disaster relief or farm support.

It came after GOP critics of the spending bill spent much of the day attacking Johnson’s handling of the issue.

The 1,547-page bill is a short-term extension of fiscal year (FY) 2024 government funding levels aimed at giving lawmakers more time to agree on funding for the remainder of FY 2025 before Friday’s deadline.

It is the second such extension, called a continuing resolution (CR), since FY 2024 ended on September 30.

In addition to funding the government through March 14, the bill also has more than $100 billion in disaster relief to help Americans affected by Hurricanes Milton and Helene. It also includes an additional $10 billion in financial relief for farmers, as well as health care reform measures and a provision aimed at revitalizing Washington, DC’s RFK Stadium and its surrounding campus.

Members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus said they felt blindsided by what they saw as independent political riders added to the bill in last-minute negotiations.

Several GOP lawmakers, who granted anonymity to speak freely, said Johnson would see challenges to his bid for the speakership in early January on the matter.

But Johnson defended the deal on “Fox & Friends” Wednesday morning.

“When we start the new Congress in January, when the Republicans are in control … we will be able to scale back the size and scope of government. But before we get to that point, remember right now that we only control one half of one-third of the federal government Remember, Democrats are still in charge of the Senate and the White House, so what we’ve done is the conservative call here,” he said.

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Opponents of the legislation include Elon Musk, who wrote on X: “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!”

He later urged Republicans to take advantage of a partial government shutdown, “‘shutting down’ the government (which doesn’t actually shut down critical functions btw) is infinitely better than passing a terrible bill.”

Meanwhile, Trump and Vance urged Republicans to reject the deal and instead opt for a CR paired with an increase in the US debt limit – which was suspended until January 2025.

“Raising the debt ceiling isn’t great, but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch. If the Democrats won’t cooperate on the debt ceiling now, what makes anyone think they would in June under our administration? Let’s have this debate now And we should pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn’t give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want,” the statement said.

But simply bowing to his right flank may not get Johnson out of the woods, with Democrats warning him not to renege on their deal.

“House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government. And hurt the working class Americans they claim to support. You break the bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences,” wrote House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, RN.YX

Johnson was always likely to need Democratic help to pass a CR, given his slim margins in the House and widespread opposition to short-term funding extensions within the GOP.

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But it’s not clear whether the number of Democrats willing to break ranks will outweigh Republican opposition.

House leaders will also have to decide whether to move the bill through regular order — which would include a vote in the House Rules Committee followed by a procedural vote in the full House before lawmakers can weigh in on the measure itself — or bypass it and rush the bill to the House floor to raise the threshold for passage to two-thirds rather than a simple majority.

All the while, the clock is ticking until the government’s partial shutdown deadline at the end of Friday.