This is the last Constitution Ave for the year as the newsletter team will take a break for the holidays, returning on Jan. 3, 2025. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
This House is due to vote today on a plan C funding plan, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said. However, details of the bill(s) have yet to be released.
This comes after the House on Thursday evening overwhelmingly voted down a proposal to keep the government funded, making a government shutdown almost inevitable.
That bill failed in a 235–174 vote, with all but two Democrats opposing the legislation. 38 Republicans voted against the Trump-backed plan.
Aside from extending the deadline for government funding through March 14, the 116-page proposal included about $30.1 billion for emergency hurricane relief, a one-year extension of the farm bill, and a suspension of the debt ceiling until Jan. 30, 2027—aligning with a demand made by President-elect Donald Trump.
The pared-down proposal replaced a previous 1,547-page government funding plan that faced strong pushback from Trump and many congressional Republicans.
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Democrats, who have historically backed government funding measures, objected to the withdrawal of the original proposal that emerged from weeks of bicameral negotiations. Several Republicans objected to the inclusion of a provision to raise the debt ceiling as well as new spending in the bill.
The bill’s failure leaves the next steps unclear, as the government is set to go into a shutdown at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on Dec. 21.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) may now bring the bill to the Rules Committee, which would mean a simple majority vote on the floor if the panel clears it.
However, it’s not clear whether the Rules Committee will advance the bill, given that Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), both members of the panel, have indicated their opposition.
Although there were hopes that the compromise plan could punt the issue to next year—allowing lawmakers to head home for the scheduled winter recess—there were strong signs that the legislation was on rocky ground ahead of the vote.
Democrats objected to raising the debt ceiling through the legislation, as the issue offers them a rare piece of leverage in the upcoming Congress.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said of the provisions to raise the debt ceiling, “Hard pass.”
At a Thursday press conference, Jeffries said Democrats were backing the original legislation, which Jeffries said “has now been detonated because House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government and hurt the very working-class Americans that many of them pretend to want to help.”
Jeffries called the debt ceiling talk “premature at best.”
President Joe Biden has also signaled opposition to the alternative proposal on similar grounds.
“Republicans are breaking their word to support a bipartisan agreement that would lower prescription drug costs and make it harder to offshore jobs to China,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wrote in a statement.
“President Biden supports the bipartisan agreement to keep the government open, help communities recovering from disasters, and lower costs—not this giveaway for billionaires that Republicans are proposing at the 11th hour.”
The new bill replaced an earlier package that resulted from weeks of private negotiations but faced immediate pushback from both House and Senate Republicans after its release on Dec. 17. Members decried what they said was giving up the farm to Democrats with pork-barrel spending.
Debt ceiling negotiations are a protracted process in Congress, even when Democrats are on board.
Without Democratic support, it will be nearly impossible for leadership to advance even a clean measure—an extension of government funding without additional policy measures. Such legislation has historically relied on Democrats’ support to pass, as Republicans are split about 50–50.
The funding fight could also determine whether Johnson will remain speaker come next month. The House GOP will have a narrower majority in the 119th Congress, and Johnson can afford to spare only a few Republican defections.
Jeffries said Democrats would not help Johnson keep the gavel even if he puts forth a continuing resolution favorable to Democrats.
Trump has not committed to supporting Johnson as speaker.
“If the speaker acts decisively and tough and gets rid of all of the traps being set by the Democrats, which will economically and, in other ways, destroy our country, he will easily remain speaker,” Trump told Fox News Digital.
—Joseph Lord, Jackson Richman, Arjun Singh
BOOKMARKS
Russian President Vladimir Putin is poised to make “compromises” to end the war in Ukraine ahead of potential peace talks with President-Elect Donald Trump. While campaigning, Trump expressed confidence that he would be able to negotiate peace between the two nations.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been disqualified from her election-related criminal case against Trump following a ruling by a Georgia appeals court. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Willis had engaged in a romantic affair with the case’s special prosecutor, Nathan Wade.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has updated the requirements for what foods may bear the label “healthy.” Utilizing criteria from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, healthy foods will now have to meet limits on saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars and must contain fruit, vegetables, lean protein, or whole grains.
Automakers in the European Union are poised to raise prices to offset incoming penalties imposed by net-zero carbon emissions guidelines. The penalties, which kick in on Jan. 1, require a 15 percent reduction in emissions and are expected to cost 15 billion euros industry-wide.
More than half of North America may face blackouts in coming years due to the loss of thermal plants and the shift toward renewable energy sources, according to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). The organization recommends natural gas-fired generators to bolster the supply, as renewables like solar and wind power rely on changeable weather conditions.
—Stacy Robinson
