US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday dealt a likely fatal blow to bipartisan budget negotiations in Congress, dismissing the measure as full of gifts to Democrats after his billionaire ally Elon Musk stoked outrage over the bill and emboldened Republican lawmakers who announced their opposition, UNN reports citing AP.
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Trump's joint statement with US Vice President-elect J.D. Vance halting the bill is interspersed with a stream of social media posts attacking Musk for what he called excessive spending.
"Stop the theft of your tax dollars!" Musk wrote on X, challenging everyone who voted for the budget deal, a threat that Trump later repeated in his own post.
The episode demonstrated the growing political influence of Musk, who was chosen by Trump, along with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, to lead the Office of Government Efficiency, a non-governmental organization formed to find ways to fire federal employees, cut programs, and ease regulations.
The AP reports that President-elect Donald Trump has collapsed on a deal to keep the government funded, days before the deadline for a shutdown.
Republican member of the House of Representatives Andy Barr said his office was inundated with calls from constituents. "My phone was ringing off the hook," he said. - "The people who elected us are listening to Elon Musk.
In his statement with Vance, Trump said that Republicans should reopen negotiations on legislation, arguing that "anything else is a betrayal of our country." He also called for an extension of the debt ceiling to be included while President Joe Biden is in office.
"Raising the debt ceiling is not good, but we would rather do it under Biden," they said. - "If Democrats won't cooperate on raising the debt ceiling now, what makes anyone think they will do it in June under our administration? Let's have a debate on the debt ceiling now.
Trump's opposition to a law that was considered a must-pass, once again evoked a sense of chaos and political brinkmanship reminiscent of his first term in office. It was a dramatic turn of events for House Speaker Mike Johnson, who negotiated the bill and whose efforts were undermined by Trump, as he faces re-election to the post in just a few weeks. Republicans hold a slim majority, raising the possibility of a repeat of the leadership disputes that paralyzed the House a year ago.
Many lawmakers were in the midst of celebrating the end of the year when Trump opposed the bill.
The Biden administration has criticized the possibility of a shutdown.
"Republicans need to stop playing politics with this bipartisan agreement, or they will hurt hard-working Americans and create instability across the country," said White House Press Secretary Karin Jean-Pierre.
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