‘Hard pass’: Democratic House Leader digs into Trump’s demands

When it comes to Donald Trump, the Democrats want to “hard pass.”

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries had those two words for the president-elect when Trump declared that the he wanted to raise the debt ceiling as part of a government spending bill. The bipartisan bill, which was poised to avert a government shutdown, pay the wages of millions of federal workers, and provide millions of dollars worth of disaster relief aid, was tanked in the predawn hours by the furious X postings of Elon Musk who declared it “should not pass.”

Trump Elon Musk didn’t singlehandedly take down the bill, he handed it off to the man who did. On the heels of Elon Musk’s online declaration, Donald Trump issued a threat to members of his own party, saying that any “stupid” Republicans who attempt to see the bill passed without a provision to raise the debt ceiling will see themselves “primaried,” meaning that come election season, the Trump will back candidates to unseat Republicans who he believes were disloyal.

Threatened with loss of their seats in the House, the GOP balked and attempted to take the bill back to the drawing board. Democrats were unimpressed with the flip flopping of their Republican colleagues, who has previously agreed to pass the bill that had been so painstakingly put together by both parties.

Speaking to his constituents on Bluesy, Hakeem Jeffries, Trump and his allies’ efforts to raise the debt ceiling are a tactic that will allow them to “lower the amount of your Social Security check,” a proposal that would be met with a “hard pass” from Democrats.

House Republicans are now stuck between the rock that is Donald Trump and the hard place of the Democratic Party. If they vote for the bill to pass without the debt ceiling stipulation, the president-elect will enact swift political vengeance against them. If they hold fast to Trump’s demands, the Democrats will reject them and the process will be dragged out. Hakeem Jeffries holds no sympathy for the Republican Party’s predicament that they themselves created, and in a press conference said that House Republicans could ameliorate the issue if they “stick with the bipartisan agreement that they themselves negotiated.”

Trump’s debt ceiling demand comes as a shock to Democrats and Republicans alike, as both parties predicted that they wouldn’t have to deal with the issue until the arrival of the debt ceiling deadline in 2025. While Jeffries has suggested his reticence to raise the debt ceiling, some Democrats don’t share his point of view. “I agree with President-elect Trump that Congress should terminate the debt limit” said Senator Elizabeth Warren, adding that it would eliminate “reckless Republican hostage taking.” Republicans tend to be against a debt ceiling raise, and use it as leverage in order to enact spending cuts to government programs that Democrats support.

If Democrats and Republicans are not able to come to a consensus regarding the bill, the resulting government shutdown will worsen the lives of Americans across the nation. Government shut downs cause economic chaos, and millions of federal workers will find themselves without a paycheck over the holiday seasons. This particular bill was set to provide funds to rebuild the collapsed Key Bridge in Baltimore, as well as disaster relief for areas ravaged by Hurricane Helene. In short, it’s the last thing Americans need this Christmas, and if Democrats and Republicans don’t come to a consensus, it’s exactly what they’ll get.