House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries addressed the aversion of the impending government shutdown, which was narrowly avoided late on Dec. 20 via an 85-11 vote, and indicated in his comments that he believes the bipartisan spending bill represented the best path to take to avoid another government shutdown.
According to The Hill, in his comments to reporters, Jefferies also addressed the idea of a continuing resolution that would include only government funding, aid for farmers and victims of natural disasters.
“House Democrats are going to continue to fight for families, farmers and the future of working-class Americans,” Jeffries told reporters. “And in order to do that, the best path forward is the bipartisan agreement that we negotiated.”
When reporters asked him if he thought the Democrats would support an alternative continuing resolution, he reiterated his support for a bipartisan agreement.
“We are prepared to move forward with the bipartisan agreement that we thought was negotiated in good faith with House Republicans, along with Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans, that meets the needs of the American people at this moment in time. We are fighting for everyday Americans — not for millionaires and billionaires,” he continued. “We are fighting for everyday Americans who will be hurt by a reckless Republican shutdown,” Jeffries said.
According to ABC 11, the agreement took the place of a previous 1,500 page deal, which was scrapped after President-elect Trump and Elon Musk objected to it and wanted to raise the debt ceiling limit, which forced House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to create a new deal and created questions as to his own job security after failing to get a new deal through twice, before the successful attempt.
The apparent influence that Musk showcased in getting the original deal abolished angered some Democrats, and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders remarked that Musk’s interference was “not democracy, that’s oligarchy,” Trump’s desired debt ceiling raise was torpedoed by Republicans, and the bill still includes the funding Jeffries discussed.
According to The New Republic, several Democratic Representatives indicated on X that Musk was actually calling the shots, which seemed to get under his skin, the fracas even prompted a Trump spokesperson to remark on Dec. 19 that “President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop.”
On Dec. 21, a statement from the White House indicated that President Joe Biden signed the stop gap funding bill passed by the Senate that extends funding for the government until March 2025, while explaining that neither side got everything they wanted going into the negotiations.
“The bipartisan funding bill I just signed keeps the government open and delivers the urgently needed disaster relief that I requested for recovering communities as well as the funds needed to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge.”
President Biden continued, “This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted. But it rejects the accelerated pathway to a tax cut for billionaires that Republicans sought, and it ensures the government can continue to operate at full capacity.”
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