House Republican leadership has scrapped a bipartisan funding bill to keep the government open amid backlash from Elon Musk, Donald Trump and MAGA allies.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) told CBS News that the stopgap funding bill is dead and that the path forward is unclear.
“There’s no new agreement right now,” Scalise said.
The original bill called for extending government spending at current levels until March and added other provisions like relief for disaster victims and farmers, a pay raise for members of Congress and health care policy extenders.
“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 that follow,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
Lawmakers have until Friday to reach a deal to avoid a government shutdown.
The move by House Republicans to kill the bill comes after Musk spent much of Wednesday railing against the spending bill calling it a “scam,” a “criminal bill,” “an outrage,” “terrible,” and “madness.”
Musk also suggested that any Republican who support the spending deal will be primaried.
Trump and Vice-President -elect JD Vance also released a statement slamming the bill for including Democratic priorities and called on Republicans to attach demands to the debt limit debate to the bill to keep the government open.
“Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025,” Trump and Vance said. “The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country.”
But later Wednesday, Trump threatened any Republican in the House who voted for a clean bill.
“Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried,” he posted on his Truth Social platform. “Everything should be done, and fully negotiated, prior to my taking Office on January 20th, 2025.”
