After days of threats and demands, Donald Trump had nothing to show for it once lawmakers passed a budget deal in the early hours of Saturday, narrowly averting a pre-Christmas government shutdown.
The president-elect successfully pushed House Republicans to cut some spending, but he failed to achieve his central goal of raising the debt ceiling. It showed that despite his decisive election victory and repeated promises of revenge, many members of his party are still willing to openly defy him.
Trump’s decision to inject himself into the budget debate a month before his inauguration also showed that he is more adept at blowing deals than making them, and it foreshadows that his second term will be marked by the same infighting, chaos and brinksmanship. his first. “Look. Buckle up. Strap in,” Rep. said Steve Womack, R-Ark., a senior appropriator.
A glance at Trump’s agenda shows a cascade of opportunities for similar showdowns in the coming years. He wants to extend tax cuts signed into law seven years ago, shrink the size of government, raise tariffs on imports and crack down on illegal immigrants. Many of those efforts require congressional buy-in.
For many of Trump’s supporters, disruption may be a goal in itself. According to the AP Votecast, a comprehensive survey of more than 120,000 voters, 37 percent of those who voted for him this year said they wanted a “complete and total upheaval.” A further 56% said they wanted “substantial change”.
But the past few days have made clear the difficulty Trump may face in accomplishing his goals quickly, especially as Republicans hold only slim majorities in the House and Senate. Some MPs seem weary of the apparent lack of a unified strategy. Sen. Kevin Kramer, RND, said the budget fight was “a valuable lesson in how to get our act together.” “There are no layups and it gets more complicated,” he said.
Trouble with how Trump’s demands fell flat began when top lawmakers released a copy of the bill, known as a continuing resolution, that required the federal government to act by March. It wasn’t the president-elect but Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and Trump confidante, who first took to social media to protest the law as excessive spending.
Trump finally got into the fight. He ordered Republicans to scrap the bipartisan deal they had with Democrats. And he demanded they raise the debt ceiling — the limit on how much the government can borrow — to prevent that thorny issue from coming up while the government remains in charge.
He increased the pressure even as his demands shifted. First he wanted to eliminate the debt ceiling entirely. Then he wanted to suspend it till 2027. He then extended the deadline till 2029. If the shutdown happens, Democratic President Joe Biden will take the blame, Trump insisted. Our country, and vote “yes” for this bill tonight! Trump wrote Thursday, before voting on a version of the bill that included a higher debt ceiling.
Instead, 38 Republicans voted no. It was a stunning brush-off for Trump, whose power in his party has sometimes seemed almost absolute. Without it, we should never have a deal,” he wrote on his social media site Truth Social. If he doesn’t get what he wants, Trump said, there should be a government shutdown.
He said, ‘those who obstruct the republic must be removed,’ he said, ‘if the members of their own party refuse to go along, they will have to face the primary challenge. He is a representative of Texas. Chip took Roy out with names and insults. But in the end, lawmakers stopped raising the debt ceiling, and the final deal was passed Saturday morning.
Musk and other Trump aides tried to frame it as a victory because the final legislation was significantly watered down and unpopular items such as pay raises for members of Congress were removed. Charlie Kirk, a prominent conservative activist, wrote in X that Trump “is running Congress before he takes office!” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he had been in “constant contact” with Trump, who he added was “certainly pleased with this outcome.” If Trump agreed, he didn’t say it himself.
After repeated social media messages, Trump went silent again on Friday. He did not comment on the final vote or issue a statement. Instead, he went golfing at his Florida resort. Trump spokeswoman Carolyn Levitt said the president-elect helped block the original deal, which was “full of Democrat pork and pay raises for members of Congress.” “In January, President Trump and DOGE will continue this important mission to cut Washington’s waste, one bill at a time,” she said. DOGE is a reference to the Department of Government Efficiency, an advisory panel headed by Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
The circus-like atmosphere of the funding battle was reminiscent of Trump’s first term, with more skirmishes to come. At the time, a budget impasse shut down the government after Trump demanded money for his US-Mexico border wall. After 35 days — the longest shutdown in history — he agreed to a deal without the money he wanted. It was a political low point for Trump, and 60% of Americans blamed him for the shutdown, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs research poll.
Trump has not stopped trying to bend Republicans to his will. Of course he won’t do that anymore. He is increasing pressure within his own party on his cabinet picks, pushing reluctant Republican senators to get on board with some of his controversial picks, such as anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary and Fox News host. Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary.
Next year’s spending debate looks certain to further test Trump’s influence in the House. Many conservatives see the rapid growth of the federal debt as an existential threat to the country that must be addressed. But some Republicans fear voter backlash if they make big cuts to federal programs Americans rely on.
Concerns about deficit spending could intensify if Trump pushes through expensive tax cuts that he promised during the campaign, such as eliminating tip taxes, Social Security and overtime pay. He also wants to extend tax cuts signed into law in 2017 that are set to expire next year. He called for lowering the US corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%, but only for companies that manufacture in the United States.
Trump has said he will pay for the drop in revenue with aggressive new tariffs that economists warn could lead to higher prices for consumers. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, said the spending cuts could be a wedge between Trump and House Republicans. “It was never really a campaign promise of Trump, but it’s a big priority for House Republicans,” he said.
There was no sense that the Saturday rivalry was dying. Some Republicans blamed House leadership for not securing Trump’s “blessing” in the original deal. Democrats cast Trump as second fiddle to Musk.
While Trump remained quiet, Biden announced that he had signed the budget law. “This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything they wanted,” he said. “But it denies the fast track to tax cuts for billionaires sought by Republicans, and it ensures the government can continue to operate at full capacity.”
Why should you buy our membership?
You want to be the smartest in the room.
You want access to our award-winning journalism.
You don’t want to be confused and misinformed.
Choose your subscription package