President-elect Donald Trump is disappointed that the House of Representatives passed a spending plan on Friday night that did not contain an extension or repeal of the debt ceiling. The passage came just hours before a potential government shutdown. The bill was later enacted by the Senate with an 85-11 vote.
The legislation, which provides the government with three months of funding, easily passed the lower chamber with a two-thirds majority. Lawmakers approved the bill 366-34, with 196 Democratic and 170 Republican votes in favor. Republicans cast all 34 votes against.
On Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) vetoed an earlier financing bill after Elon Musk and Trump spoke out against it. Trump abruptly requested that the House raise or remove the debt ceiling, which limits how much money the federal government may borrow.
The debt ceiling has occasionally been used as a weapon by congressional Republicans against Democratic administrations. Not unexpectedly, Democratic legislators have expressed a willingness to support its abolition.
“Anybody that supports a bill that doesn’t take care of the Democrat quicksand known as the debt ceiling should be primaried and disposed of as quickly as possible,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
However, the law passed on Friday did not include a debt ceiling provision.
Burgess Everett, Semafor’s congressional bureau chief, stated that Trump was irritated by this development.
“Trump is NOT happy that the spending deal doesn’t include the debt ceiling, according to [a] person who spoke with him this p.m.,” Everett shared with X. “Not clear he’ll publicly try to stop the bill in the Senate but Trump’s not thrilled the bill doesn’t contain his main ask[.]”
As of this writing, the president-elect has made no public comments on the bill’s passing.
