Is Congress headed toward a government shutdown?

Speaker Mike Johnson is scrambling to put together a new funding bill after Republican heavyweights like President-elect Donald Trump and his MAGA allies tanked Johnson's first continuing resolution. With the funding deadline fast approaching, the chances of a government shutdown are becoming more likely.

Johnson unveiled his original CR on Tuesday night after several delayed negotiations. The funding bill was received poorly, to put it lightly.

With the mounting pressure and a fast-approaching deadline of December 20, Johnson is going back to the drawing board.

Within 24 hours, dozens of lawmakers and Trump allies launched a pressure campaign targeting the CR. Many raised concerns about the price tag, calling the 1,547-page bill "criminal" and "full of pork."

Trump delivered a final blow to the already sinking funding bill in a statement Wednesday night, calling the bill "destructive" and instead pushing for a clean CR.

"Sounds like the ridiculous and extraordinarily expensive Continuing Resolution, PLUS, is dying fast, but can anyone imagine passing it without either terminating, or extending, the Debt Ceiling guillotine coming up in June?" Trump said in a Wednesday post on Truth Social. "Unless the Democrats terminate or substantially extend Debt Ceiling now, I will fight ‘till the end. This is a nasty TRAP set in place by the Radical Left Democrats!"

US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (C) walks under US President-elect Donald Trump (L) as he speaks at a House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on November 13, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Trump raised the stakes of the already high-pressure spending fight by demanding that leadership also address the debt limit in negotiations. Trump doubled down on his last-minute command by calling for Republicans to be primaried if they don't follow through.

"If Republicans try to pass a clean Continuing Resolution without all of the Democrat 'bells and whistles' that will be so destructive to our Country, all it will do, after January 20th, is bring the mess of the Debt Limit into the Trump Administration, rather than allowing it to take place in the Biden Administration," Trump added. "Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried."

"Increasing the debt ceiling is not great, but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch," Trump said in a joint statement with Vice President-elect JD Vance on Wednesday. "If Democrats won’t cooperate on the debt ceiling now, what makes anyone think they would do it in June during 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."

With the mounting pressure and a fast-approaching deadline of December 20, Johnson is going back to the drawing board.

In the late hours of Wednesday night, Republican Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Rules Committee Chairman Burgess Owens, and Vance were spotted going in and out of the speaker's office as Johnson figures out a path forward.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) speaks to reporters as House Republicans hold a caucus meeting at the Longworth House Office Building on October 13, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida later confirmed that there would be no more votes on Wednesday, likely signaling that the pressure campaign against Johnson's CR led him to scrap it entirely. Luna confirmed additional reports that Johnson and others in the Republican conference are "re-working legislation" and that they will "likely" do a clean CR.

That being said, the clock is ticking. Every hour that goes by, the possibility of a government shutdown becomes more and more likely.

The threat of a government shutdown just days before Christmas has historically incentivized lawmakers to pass a Christmas omnibus like the one Johnson originally proposed on Tuesday. Johnson notably said in September that he had "no intention of going back to that terrible tradition."

At this point, a government shutdown very well may be on the table with several lawmakers and Trump allies calling for it.

"The Uniparty and the mainstream media want you to be terrified of a government 'shutdown,'" Republican Rep. Andy Biggs said in a Thursday post on X. "Here's the truth: 85% of the government is business as usual. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are all paid in full. Perhaps a pause in nonessential spending would be beneficial."

"The government doesn’t actually shut down when they say 'shut down,' as all essential personnel keep working," Musk said in a Wednesday post on X. "So ... shut it down."

At this point, no CR votes have been scheduled, and no new text has been released. With the possibility of a shutdown looming over lawmakers, we will have to see what the Hill can come up with in the 11th hour.

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