‘They are threatening to do just that’: Trump, JD Vance could shut down the government
Although Donald Trump isn’t president yet, he, J. D. Vance, and Elon Musk are already grappling for control, including attempting to force a government shutdown.
House Republicans and Democrats had already reached a bipartisan agreement on a new funding bill, which must be passed before the weekend to avoid a government shutdown. Everything was in place to ensure the government would remain open through March 14, 2025. However, at the last minute, House Republicans backtracked on their agreement, throwing the House into chaos and threatening a shutdown right before the holidays. If the shutdown occurs, thousands of federal workers will be sent home before the holidays with no pay; it will cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars and add to Americans’ holiday stress with things like travel expected to be badly impacted.
So, why did House Republicans abruptly withdraw from a bill they had already agreed to? It’s simply because Trump and Musk told them to.
Donald Trump forces House to back out of funding bill
Shortly before the funding bill was set to pass, Trump released a threatening statement ordering House Republicans to reject the deal they already agreed to. One of his bizarre demands was that the agreement had to include a measure to increase the debt ceiling, even though the House hadn’t planned on addressing the topic until next year. However, the president-elect insisted that, for some reason, it must be done under Biden, stating, “Increasing the debt ceiling is not great, but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch.” He also complained about the Democrats getting “everything they want.” Trump then reiterated his and Musk’s past threats to Republicans that if they don’t do his bidding, they will “be Primaried.”
The timing of Trump’s statement against the spending bill was suspicious. He noticeably waited until Musk vocally criticized the bill before coming out in opposition, with many suspecting that breaking the deal and threatening a government shutdown were Musk’s calls. Trump, Vance, and Musk have been slammed by House Democrats and the White House for their actions. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated, “President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance ordered Republicans to shut down the government, and they are threatening to do just that—while undermining communities recovering from disasters, farmers and ranchers, and community health centers.” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries warned House Republicans that they would be wholly responsible for any harm that comes to America from the likely shutdown, while Rep. Jimmy Panetta warned Republicans to stop playing games.
Indeed, the whole matter appears to be a game for Trump, Musk, and Vance. After all, they seem to be struggling to voice what’s wrong with the bill, given that Musk’s grievances all consisted of false claims and misinformation. Even though he can’t accurately voice his opposition to the bill, he has been desperately trying to stir hysteria by incessantly posting fearmongering Tweets and threats about it on X for days straight. The manufactured hysteria over the bill may be a tactic to push the government shutdown. Both Musk and Trump have hinted about wanting to shut things down until he gets into office, with Musk rage-tweeting that “zero” bills should be allowed to pass Congress until January 20th and Trump stating he wants the shutdown to start under a Democratic president.
As Musk and Trump carry out their little power play from outside the White House, they’ve shown no care whatsoever for the Americans who may suffer from a government shutdown.
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