US budget proposal

Congress lets Trump fail: Shutdown looms

The Republicans in the US Congress are knitting a budget bill with a hot needle that is acceptable to future US President Donald Trump, but the proposal fails in the vote, and not just because of the Democrats.

(Bild: AFP or licensors)

An administrative shutdown is looming in the US shortly before Christmas: on Thursday, a proposal put forward by the Republicans for a transitional budget to fund the federal authorities until mid-March was rejected by the majority of MPs in the House of Representatives. If no agreement is reached by midnight on Friday, the shutdown will begin - with compulsory unpaid leave for civil servants and considerable restrictions on public life.

The Republicans presented the new proposal after US President-elect Donald Trump rejected a previously reached bipartisan agreement and demanded a renegotiation. The transitional funding is necessary because an agreement on a full annual budget for 2025 failed months ago.

Suspension of the debt ceiling for two years 
The new proposal would have regulated the funding of the federal authorities on the one hand, but would also have extended the suspension of the debt ceiling for two years, i.e. for the first two years of his second term of office, which begins in January, as Trump subsequently requested.

Donald Trump had previously rejected a bipartisan agreement between Republicans and Democrats on a transition budget.

(Bild: APA/AP)

Trump praises new proposal as a "very good deal"
 Congress has often passed such an extension in recent years to enable the US government to meet its obligations. However, this was not part of the current budget negotiations, so Trump's request came as a surprise to MPs. A suspension of the debt ceiling is usually preceded by lengthy negotiations.

The Republicans also need votes from the Democrats for the budget legislation to be passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate. Trump had praised the new proposal as a "very good deal for the American people", while the head of the Democratic minority in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, immediately rejected it as "ridiculous" and "not serious".

Musk called for a blockade of the budget agreement
The bipartisan agreement between Republicans and Democrats was initially vehemently protested by Elon Musk, the high-tech billionaire appointed by Trump as a government advisor. Trump later agreed with the entrepreneur and instructed his party to bury the compromise with the Democrats.

The intervention of multi-billionaire Elon Musk in the budget legislation is a highly unusual occurrence.

(Bild: AFP/RYAN COLLERD)

The multi-billionaire's intervention in budget legislation is a highly unusual occurrence. Trump has appointed Musk as an external government advisor to reduce the costs of the government apparatus; he has no formal government office and no mandate from the voters. Above all, the conflicts of interest associated with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO's advisory post are also causing sharp criticism.

Deadline for agreement expires on Saturday
The further procedure for averting the shutdown is not clearly defined. The Republican Chairman of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, is confronted on the one hand with demands from the Democrats to return to the original agreement, while on the other a number of Republicans are now linking the billions in planned spending with demands for cuts elsewhere. The deadline for the agreement expires on Saturday night. In the event of a shutdown, hundreds of thousands of civil servants will be sent on unpaid compulsory leave and the federal authorities will be restricted to carrying out only the most important tasks.

Over the Christmas holidays, there would be restrictions on government services, border control and numerous public institutions such as national parks and state museums. The longest shutdown occurred during Trump's first term of office at the turn of the year 2018/2019, when the administrative shutdown lasted a total of 35 days.