VOA News | Wednesday, December 18, 2024 
Trump urges US lawmakers to reject spending bill, raising government shutdown odds

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday called on U.S. lawmakers to reject a stopgap bill to keep the government funded past Friday, raising the likelihood of a partial shutdown. Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance called on lawmakers to pass a different temporary spending bill than the one unveiled on Tuesday, free from what they called “Democrat giveaways.” Trump also called on lawmakers to use the bill to address the nation’s debt ceiling, injecting a new element of complexity into the process. That could complicate efforts to avert a shutdown that would disrupt everything from air travel to law enforcement days before the December 25 Christmas holiday. It would be the first government shutdown since one that extended through December 2018 into 2019, during Trump’s first four-year White House term. Democrats currently control the Senate, and Democratic President Joe Biden remains in power until Trump takes office on January 20. The current bill would fund government agencies at current levels and provide $100 billion for disaster relief and $10 billion in farm aid. It also includes a wide range of unrelated provisions, such as a pay raise for lawmakers and a crackdown on hidden hotel fees. Trump and Vance said Congress should limit the bill to…Read More