Jeffries to Johnson: You’re on your own
Trump’s latest antics have left the Republican speaker without the Democratic votes he needs to keep the government open. The top House Democrat knows this too.
First Things First
👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! Welcome back to Once Upon a Hill. Hill Democrats are poised to watch Speaker Mike Johnson find a workable path forward after President-elect Donald Trump effectively killed a plan between congressional party leaders to avoid a government shutdown ahead of Christmas weekend.
Without any of their legislative priorities in the final must-pass measure lawmakers will consider before Democrats relinquish control of the White House and Senate, there is little political appetite or incentive to help Republicans solve a problem they started.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) immediately took an unflinching stance against Trump’s eleventh-hour demand that Republicans attach an increase to the amount of money the federal government can borrow, known as the debt limit, to a temporary extension of current funding levels into the middle of next March.
“House Republicans have now unilaterally decided to break a bipartisan agreement that they made. House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government and hurt everyday Americans all across the country,” Jeffries said. “House Republicans will now own any harm that is visited upon the American people that results from a government shutdown or worse. An agreement is an agreement. It was bipartisan and there is nothing more to say.”
Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), the top Senate Democrat, expressed a similar sentiment, according to a source familiar with the matter: “We have a deal with the Republicans, and we're sticking with it.”
The two leaders’ posture almost guarantees Johnson will have to execute his next move along party lines without Democratic support. It could require him to process a bill that meets Trump’s demands through the House Rules Committee, which would require buy-in from Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)—three hardline conservative members who opposed the initial bill Johnson intended to bring to the floor under suspension of the rules, a fast-track process that requires a two-thirds majority for final passage.
The entire ordeal is proof that Trump will attempt to govern with the same all-or-nothing political instincts that dominated his first term and have infiltrated the Republican rank-and-file to the extent that an institution that hinges on horse trading and compromise is now mired in perpetual gridlock.
House Democrats will hold a caucus meeting this morning to discuss their strategy on the continuing resolution. Leadership is tracking attendance and has advised members to be prepared to remain in Washington beyond Friday to take votes on government funding.
To be clear, passing a continuing resolution was always going to be a heavy lift for Johnson. The Louisiana Republican leads a conference with enough members who oppose CRs as a matter of principle that could sink any bill without enough Democratic votes to keep it afloat. Plus, Congress failed to pass a five-year farm bill this year after coming up short last year, so another one-year extension was added to the mix. Lawmakers also needed to provide billions of dollars in disaster aid to communities impacted by recent extreme weather events. And although Republicans wanted the disaster offset with spending cuts, they provided Johnson with a weak political hand to fulfill this stipulation.
The speaker also prioritized $10 billion in emergency economic assistance for farmers who have been struggling since the pandemic. However, as I reported on Wednesday, Democrats secured millions for child care, workforce training and job placement and full federal funding for rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after its collapse in March. Corn-belt lawmakers also notched a provision allowing permanent national E-15 fuel sales year-round.
The proposed CR included more than 500 pages related to health care alone. It had reforms that would eliminate spread pricing—a practice where pharmacy benefit managers charge a health plan or insurer a higher price for a prescription drug than what they pay the pharmacy to dispense it—and instead pay PBMs a flat administrative fee for all Medicaid programs. Medicare telehealth flexibilities were extended for two years so beneficiaries outside of rural areas could continue to receive services.
Additionally, new restrictions on US investment in China were included to prevent Beijing from reaping the benefits of American innovation in artificial intelligence and semiconductor manufacturing. The same goes for a trade agreement that will allow duty-free imports of textiles and apparel from Haiti. The bill also approved the transfer of RFK Stadium, the defunct home of the NFL’s Washington Commanders, from the federal government to the District of Columbia as a centerpiece of economic renewal in the nation’s capital.
These add-ons were the cost of doing business with Democrats for Johnson but too much for House Republicans to swallow, as indicated by the revolt against the bill from
the right almost immediately after it was released. The bill had no chance of surviving the Rules Committee and House GOP leadership had trouble cobbling together the 100 votes to supplement the Democratic votes needed to pass the bill needed to pass under suspension.
But the MAGA right—led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, two unelected billionaires with enormous influence over Trump—revolted too. They amplified misinformation about the provisions in the bill and encouraged members to oppose it regardless of the unnecessary harm a shutdown would inflict during what’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year.
Then came Trump, first with a joint statement with Vice President-elect JD Vance demanding Republicans drop the concessions to Democrats and add the debt limit increase. The president-elect would later threaten members who refused to do his bidding with a primary challenge, most likely funded by Musk’s purse strings.
The Treasury Department estimates the US government won’t practically reach the debt limit until summer and discussions to lift the borrowing threshold weren’t included in the negotiations that resulted in the 1,547 bill Hill leaders unveiled on Tuesday night. Republicans politicized the debt limit last year so Democrats are uninterested in budging to grease the skids for Trump 2.0.
Johnson spent the night holed up in his Capitol suite discussing the next steps with a revolving door that included rank-and-file members, senior Republican appropriators and Vance.
“We had a productive conversation. I’m not going say anything else about it tonight because we are in the middle of these negotiations,” he told reporters after meeting with the speaker. “But I think we will be able to solve some problems here and we will keep working on it.”
The government shuts down in less than 40 hours.
Do you have questions about the lame-duck session or the incoming Trump presidency? Drop me a line at michael@onceuponahill.com or send me a message below to get in touch and I’ll report back with answers.
Happenings
The House will meet at 9 a.m. with first and last votes to be determined.
The Senate will meet at 10 a.m.
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