President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance were both harshly critical of a Johnson-negotiated deal that would extend government funding until March 14.
In the grand calendar, that date may not seem a long way out but considering Republicans are guaranteed control of the Senate and House for only two years, before mid-term elections, all months matter on Capitol Hill.
Consolidation of power, however, was not Trump’s primary concern with the bill.
“Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025,” Trump and Vance said in a statement. “The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country.”
That lack of support means a restart for Johnson to avoid a government shutdown at the close of business Friday.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump deputies in the fight against government waste through the new Department of Government Efficiency, had already spoken out against the bill.
The billionaire Musk, backed by conservative activists on his X social media site, is being credited - and criticized - for helping kill the spending bill.
Speaking on the Washington Watch program late Wednesday, Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia) criticized the spending bill that he said is full of "Democrat priorities" that cost taxpayers billions.
"It’s terrible on the financial side because you have $110 billion, up to $125 billion, depending on how you look at it, in borrowed government money. That is not being financially responsible,” he said.
Clyde told show host Jody Hice that Johnson’s bill is a 180-degree turn from the mandate voters gave to Trump and Republicans on Nov. 5.
“This is not a win for the president or a win for the American people," he insisted. "It is a win for the Swamp, and it has firmly been rejected right now.”
After the bill was stopped, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) said Musk and Ramaswamy deserved a victory lap over the "Uniparty," meaning money-spending Republicans and Democrats.
“Yesterday was DOGE in action, and it was the most refreshing thing I’ve seen since I’ve been here for four years. The Uniparty got caught trying to pass ANOTHER ridiculous gov funding bill because the people read the bill and expressed massive outrage,” she wrote.
“And now the Uniparty is BIG MAD at Elon, Vivek, and ALL the American people who loudly objected yesterday,” she added.
Feral swine and sheep marketing
Here are a few spending items agreed to by Johnson according to The Daily Caller:
A feral swine eradication program.
A continuation of the “Wool Trust Fund” until 2025. This is funding to offset costs for domestic manufacturers resulting from tariffs on wool fabric. The fund provides annual payments.
Paying for juvenile delinquents to get their driver’s license.
No longer calling homeless adults and children “homeless.”
Extending a “sheep marketing grant program” until 2025.
Extending The Global Engagement Center, the State Department’s office dedicated to censorship, with another year of funding.
Spending $3 million to test the inspection of molasses.
“The Global Engagement Center, that’s taxpayer funded violation of the First Amendment. It’s censorship, and it has a one-year extension. I thought it was going to die this month, hopefully a painful death, but it’s been resurrected in this bill. It needs to be killed,” Clyde said.
Also included in the bill would be a pay raise for lawmakers that would take their base salary past $180,000 a year, according to The Daily Caller.
Clyde is confident a better bill will emerge.
“I believe it will be a much trimmer bill that will come out. We’ll see. We should have 72 hours to read it and vote on it. I don't think that's probably going to happen, but right now we’re in the waiting game,” he said.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters the initial bill was officially dead and that Republicans would be working through Wednesday night discussing how to tie a debt-limit increase to government funding in response to Trump’s demand.
They have their work cut out for them as many hard-line conservatives would balk at any debt ceiling increase, Fox News reported.
A Schumer Shutdown in the making?
Any bill passed in the House must also pass the Senate which, for now, remains controlled by Democrats and majority leader Chuck Schumer.
Clyde isn’t fearing a shutdown, which seems likely.
“I think (a new bill) would pass the House. The Senate, I don't know if it will pass them, but, you know, our concern is the House. We should pass it and go home, and if the Senate doesn't want to pass that, then a government shutdown would be on the Senate.
“It would be a Schumer shutdown, and I don’t think they can actually handle that,” he said.